$1,200 Sexed-up Flip-Flops
Sex appeal is innate to the ERL brand. But sexed-up flip-flops? Priced at $1,250? A new frontier.
ERL, Eli Russell Linnetz' industry-adored fashion line, has long bent Californian design cues to its will. Its signature look is reclaimed Y2K Abercombie campaigns anchored by real-deal craft.
So, ERL's new flip-flops are probably not the ideal introduction to the brand. But they are a surefire method of snagging headlines.
On July 23, ERL debuted its first in-house flip-flops. Especially given that the beachy, Californian label has styled several lookbooks with flip-flops already, this all sounds quite innocuous. And it fits timingwise, as the ERL flip-flop is clearly timed to ride the flip-flop wave.
But if you thought The Row's $690 flops were a, erm, flop, prepare to flip.
A conventional pair of suede-strapped and rubber-soled ERL's flip-flops retail at $185; a five-inch pair reaches $375; and they attain the awe-inspiring height of eight inches in their final form, the aptly named Huge Flip-Flop.
Available "only upon request," according to a release, ERL's Huge Flip Flop retails for an astonishing $1,250, making it perhaps the priciest flip-flop on the market, designer or not.
To amplify the inevitable stir drummed up by a four-figure flip-flop, Linnetz lensed an overtly sexed-up campaign in which tanned and toned models wear nothing but its new sandals. Again, ERL photoshoots have always incorporated a cheeky bit of skin — often literally — bit simulated sex? That's a first.
There's a lot going on here: saucy campaign, the humblest shoe priced like couture or even in line with pair of sneakers.
But this is part of ERL's game. Linnetz knows exactly what he's doing: this is both commentary on the inherently silly designer flip-flop debate and direct engagement with the proposition. ERL has always walked the line between considered and self-aware, and its take on the flip-flop is thus suitably extra. They're a big deal. Literally.
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