Deacon Phillippe Is The California Boy of ERL’s Sailing Collection

There is something unmistakably California about Deacon Phillippe in ERL.

The musician and actor steps into the ERL studio in Venice Beach to wear the brand’s new Sailing Collection, designed and photographed by Eli Russell Linnetz and made in California.

And judging by these photographs, this isn’t a traditional fashion campaign built around perfect poses, pristine clothes and an immaculate studio. Instead, Linnetz gives us something much more personal: a handsome young California guy trying on clothes in Venice, photographed almost as casually as a fitting between friends.

Deacon Goes to Venice

The setting couldn’t be simpler.

White walls. Exposed wooden rafters. Plywood floors. A small wooden dresser. California sunlight.

Against that stripped-back environment, Deacon becomes the focus.

The photographs move between portraits, full-body shots and wonderfully close details. Sometimes he’s completely dressed; seconds later a hoodie hangs open around his bare torso. In another frame, he’s holding the navy VENICE sweatshirt directly against his body.

There’s a physical looseness throughout the series that makes the clothes feel real.

Deacon leans against furniture, sits on the edge of a dresser, pushes his hair back, looks away from the camera and occasionally appears caught somewhere between one pose and the next.

Those imperfect moments are arguably the best ones.

Sun-Faded Purple

One of the strongest looks in the gallery is also one of the simplest.

Deacon wears ERL’s washed purple and grey palette: relaxed trousers sitting low at the waist, a sleeveless California sailing graphic top and the faded Classic Swirl Hoodie.

The purple has that deliberately exhausted color ERL does so well. It doesn’t look freshly purchased. It looks sun-bleached, washed repeatedly and rediscovered after spending years inside a Venice Beach closet.

VENICE

Then comes perhaps the most literal declaration of the collection: VENICE.

Deacon pulls on an oversized navy football-style hoodie carrying the neighborhood’s name across the chest. ERL’s version features grey VENICE appliqué, striped sleeves and “BE NICE 76” lettering on the back.

The styling in the photographs is great precisely because it doesn’t become precious.

The sweatshirt is oversized. His shorts are loose and pleated. A belt hangs casually around the waist. Another frame zooms directly toward Deacon’s abdomen while he holds the sweatshirt up.

It’s part lookbook, part fitting-room diary and part portrait session.

And that feels very ERL.

California Green

Another sequence takes Deacon outside.

Against a palm tree and lush California greenery, he wears an emerald-green sleeveless button-down completely open over his bare chest, paired with relaxed grey shorts.

Suddenly the entire color story changes.

Purple disappears. Green takes over. Sunlight replaces the white studio walls.

Yet the same feeling remains: faded, youthful, masculine and slightly undone.

ERL describes the collection through washed finishes and raw-cut constructions, including green pieces with worn California sailing imagery and reverse-face twill garments with deliberately unfinished details. 

Stripes After the Beach

One of our favorite looks arrives toward the end of the gallery.

Blue-and-white striped shirting is worn open across Deacon’s torso with matching striped boxer-style shorts.

It’s almost pajama dressing.

Almost prep.

Almost something borrowed from an old coastal vacation photograph.

That ambiguity is where ERL becomes interesting.

Deacon Phillippe wears the ERL Sailing Collection at the ERL studio in Venice Beach.
Designed and photographed by Eli Russell Linnetz.
Made in California.