Eli Russell Linnetz
Eli Russell Linnetz is an American artist, designer, writer and director, born in Venice Beach, California. His work has previously been featured twice at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute (with one piece later joining the Museum’s permanent collection), Galerie Crone in Vienna (alongside Sterling Ruby), and Blum & Poe in Los Angeles.
A veteran child voice artist on numerous Disney Animation Studios productions and former assistant to Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and screenwriter David Mamet, Linnetz went on to graduate from the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Screenwriting and Narrative Design, where he produced his thesis film, “Afterglow” starring Sawyer Spielberg. It was also at USC where he learned to sew, creating costumes for the opera department in order to pay for his tuition. After graduating, he shifted his focus to creative direction and photography working with the industry’s top musical artists.
Linnetz is a frequent collaborator with brands such as Apple, Adidas, Burberry, The Boring Company, Bvlgari, Comme des Garçons, Fendi Couture, Gucci, Nike, Salomon, and Tesla. He has photographed covers for Vogue Italia with Justin and Hailey Bieber, Interview Magazine with Selena Gomez, GQ, and Hypebeast to name a few. He has also been nominated for best director at the MTV video music awards.
As a stage designer, he directed and designed Lady Gaga’s Las Vegas residency “Enigma”, among numerous live productions including the Saint PabloTour and several musical performances for SNL.
In 2020, Linnetz launched his fashion brand ERL which offers colorful and unique takes on all-American staples. ERL has since expanded to include womenswear, suiting, accessories, fragrances and childrenswear. All ERL photography, casting, and campaigns are created in- house by Eli Russell Linnetz at his studio in Venice Beach. ERL products are currently available in over three hundred global retailers including all Comme des Garçons stores. A look from ERL’s Fall Winter 2021 Menswear collection is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” – along with the upcycled ERL quilt and custom tuxedo worn by A$AP Rocky at the 2021 Costume Institute Gala.
Linnetz has received multiple international awards for his designs, including GQ’s Breakthrough Designer of the Year in 2021, and LVMH’s Karl Lagerfeld Prize in 2022.
