ERIKA LINDER DRIVES US WILD
Exuding Androgynous Mystique
In this moment where people everywhere are smitten with the effortless, label-free, no-makeup blonde glory of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, we really have to talk about Erika Linder — the androgynous Swedish model-turned-triple-threat whose aesthetic embodies the effortless ease of the 90s and fuses it with soft butch grit that drives us wild.
Erika Linder and The Jaguar Dolls, 2023. @realerikalinder
This year marks ten years since the release of Below Her Mouth, the cult-adored lesbian love story that pulled Linder off the runway and onto the screen. At the same time, Linder’s music project, Jaguar Dolls, just released its new single, “Incandescent,” and the looks being served are enough to devastate even the most dedicated dopamine dresser — a perfect white tank, the most flawless hoodie. Lovers of CBK are often drawn to the simplicity of a look that still makes a statement, and it needs to be said that Erika Linder is reimagining what it means to be “classic” in a way that works across genders.
Erika Linder with Erika Linder for JC Jeans Company
Here’s to the structured statement piece, to the one piece you can pull out of the closet that will create a whole moment, to the blazer that earns double overtime.
Here’s to the perfectly-tailored white tank that worked as well two decades ago as it will two decades from now.
Here’s to the jeans that aren’t too anything: not too loose, not too straight, not too high or low, too skinny or too belled. There’s a strong element of ’90s Calvin Klein in the looks that Linder puts together, none of them beholden to gender, time period, or an easily-named aesthetic.
Erika Linder. @realerikalinder
And that ease is exactly what we crave right now: a take-no-prisoners classic. A James Perse tank. Levi’s 501s washed to the point where the cotton takes on a velvet hand. A lambskin biker jacket that functions on every level.
When life gets crazy, Erika Linder’s taste reminds us of how to hold onto these anchors of style and walk a little taller than we did before.
Erika Linder. Next Model Management
