What does status look like, in a world where money is in the hands of a tiny elite?
John Elliott’s spring collection, titled Fading Prospects, was inspired by the Silicon Valley Bank collapse and the growing U.S. wealth inequality. “It kind of just dawned on me that this idea of the American dream is, like, bulls–t for my generation and for the younger generations,” the Los Angeles-based designer said.
The preppy clothes that defined aspirational menswear in the ’90s no longer feel relevant, so Elliott decided to trash them. “The whole collection is like the rejection of prep. It’s almost like if you took prep and you left it in the back of a pickup truck in L.A.,” he said.
Jeans and tracksuits had a worn-in feel, while collegiate sweatshirts and nylon windbreakers were artfully sun-faded. A gray cardigan with varsity stripes was turned inside out and combed to look intentionally pilled, while a leather suit jacket had the patina of a well-worn Chesterfield sofa.
Elliott played with trompe-l’oeil effects, printing a cable pattern on knits and applying bleached pastel stripes to a rugby shirt with a frayed hem.
“I think stylistically, you know, people are looking for novelty,” he said. “Taking something so precious as prep, and really working it, washing it and f–king it up, honestly, there’s something that is novel about it.”
Perhaps it’s just the logical extreme of the quiet luxury trend, but dirty luxury is having a moment.