John Elliott Fall / Winter 23 titled “Wherever, WheneverHave a Nice Day,” is a continuation of the same mentality the brand’s namesake designer got into coming out of his SS23 Collection “Leap of Faith.”

That narrative was informed by the idea of conjuring up the courage that we all face in our formative coming of age years, to ‘Go for it’ – Whether that’s going away to school, trying a new hobby, moving cities, or even in his case, starting a business – Embracing whatever it is that gives you that fight or flight feeling.

As a progression for fall, John tapped into a stylistic tone and way of make that embraced the brand’s current direction while catering to the cooler months of the year. Gus Van Sant’s classic “My Own Private Idaho” offered some stylistic codes that would form the building blocks of the season, and its irreverent characters spoke to a continuation of the previous season’s story – Kids on the move in their formative years. 

While avoiding referencing that film on the nose, themes were extracted. The idea of “worked,” designs – Intentionally destroyed or hand constructed, emerged as a unifying element. The most obvious way this appears in the lookbook is with “Quilted Terry,” which is crafted in Japan with five different piece-dyed tones. If you look closely at the images, you’ll notice that some of the seams are finished clean, and some are raw edge – So there’s fraying randomly dispersed throughout. That textural theme is present throughout. 

Expanding on this idea of hand-worked, items that might be considered precious were destroyed intentionally, adding to the depth of garments. This can be seen in fisherman rib knits, heavily brushed to reveal character underneath, and in gradient mohair that has a beautiful texture with moments of actual ‘destroy.’ The area where it’s most prevalent is in leather, where the brand is hand sanding and washing pieces exactly like they are denim. In John’s words,

“It’s a nerve-wracking experience but also a breakthrough in terms of finding something that felt new and super interesting.”

There are some items that directly carried over from the film into the collection. For fall seasons, John has typically been enamored with military codes, but this season graduated to more classic Americana. You can see that in a cropped field jacket and longer hunting jacket, al produced in washed-out cotton canvas with quilted padding to provide insulation. Chunky “Big Mac” plaids, that fray and fade beautifully over time combine with Italian-made footwear and modular bags to round out the assortment. 

John wears product from the collection he designs every day.

“I like to feel details and experience the garments over time. As a brand that’s unbranded, I really want people to notice things they might have overlooked on first purchase or wear, and fall in love with pieces over time, as they learn more about them.” 

That’s another reference to the film, in the sense there’s no doubt that a vintage component exists within the collection. When you find something you love, that’s been pre-loved, there’s inherently personality in that style. That ethos is something the brand tried to extract for this season, finding elements that are unique, almost wonky, from vintage pieces, and functionally adding them to the overarching story.