Zoe Latta first remembers J.Crew from middle school, when she saw a brightly colored men’s hand-knit sweater in one of the brand’s famous early catalogs. “It was just insane-looking,” she recalls, “so many different colors, so Waspy—and cool.” It changed how the Northern California native, who grew up in a much more bohemian world, saw the brand. “It was this burst-open American point of view,” she says. “It really blew my mind.” That same sweater became a reference point for J.Crew’s new collaboration with Eckhaus Latta, the label Latta runs with her design partner, Mike Eckhaus (whose own first memory of the brand is wearing the same J.Crew sweater vest as a classmate for their middle school book report on The Catcher in the Rye). Since founding Eckhaus Latta 15 years ago, they’ve built a reputation as scrappy downtown favorites, known for a gritty, modern take on American sportswear—earthy funk mixed with sleek subversion. If the partnership seems unexpected, that’s the whole point. “We really celebrate the everyday,” says Olympia Gayot, J.Crew’s creative director and head of womenswear, “and then they come and add a twist, a tension. That’s very exciting for us.” J.Crew x Eckhaus Latta How else could J.Crew give us a chunky-knit skirt suit in a flecked acid yellow, like some wayward cousin of Chanel? (Latta says she was looking for “gross” colors, including a “puke green.”) Elsewhere, there’s a riff on the ladylike twinset, in striped cashmere, playful in its cropped proportions; and classic oxford shirts, now slashed up the back, featuring a deep, overlapping vent. “Some things felt very us, others felt very J.Crew,” Latta says of working together. “If it was one or the other, we’d get rid of it or push it toward the middle. Nothing that’s in here feels preposterous to me. There’s a person for all of it.” “There’s this foundation with Eckhaus Latta of denim, jersey, and knitwear,” Eckhaus says. “And I could say the same of J.Crew—they’re just realized differently.” POWER TRIO J.Crew’s Olympia Gayot with Zoe Latta and Mike Eckhaus. “We celebrate the everyday,” Gayot says, “and then they come and add a twist, a tension.” Courtesy of J.Crew. While he and Latta have made their name with wide-cut denim dyed in murky shades; shaggy, sculptural knits; and shirting with sexy-strange cutouts, in recent years their work has gained a finesse that comes with experience, and now includes handsome leathers and more streamlined silhouettes. Much like J.Crew’s elevated staples, these are real clothes worn by real people in their real lives—though from the start, Eckhaus Latta has attracted a group of creative types (e.g., indie actors, gallerists) who often sit in their fashion shows’ front row and, occasionally, are persuaded to walk their runway. “What defines their brand is not only what they design, but the world that they build around it,” observes Gayot, recalling a show where the casting director held a model’s baby as she walked the catwalk, or the time a group of friends provided full-throated musical accompaniment. “It’s not pretentious—it’s familial, it’s beautiful, it’s downtown,” she continues. “It’s like all of those things that you look at as an outsider, and you’re like, ‘I want to be part of that world.'” Their 27-piece collaboration, which includes men’s, women’s, and children’s pieces, comes after a smaller project earlier this year in which Eckhaus Latta reimagined J.Crew’s signature roll-neck sweater, rendering it in earth-toned patches. The entire run sold out in a few hours. “We’re not a hype brand—we’re not used to putting something out and having it be gone,” Eckhaussays. “But selling out that quickly was really fulfilling, and being able to expand that into a full collection feels exciting in a whole different way.” J.Crew x Eckhaus Latta

Much of the work took place at J.Crew headquarters in downtown Manhattan, surrounded by mood boards covered with old campaign images, fabric swatches, and new sketches. “There’s just so much inspiration,” Eckhaus says of exploring the J.Crew archives. “There’s this wealth of things to explore and riff on, and then subvert and digest and play with in a way that feels like us.” “We had to keep asking, Does this still speak to the J.Crew customer?” Eckhaus continues. “How do you push the silhouette without it feeling alienating? How do you make it feel cool and very now while still being wearable?” Funnily enough, the collection as a whole captures what Latta first felt all those years ago while flipping through the pages of a J.Crew catalog—an American perspective that isn’t singular but expansive, that somehow captures something ineffable about our kaleidoscopic sense of self.

Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs Eckhaus Latta x JCrew Collaboration

Beginner Questions

What is the Eckhaus Latta x JCrew collaboration
Its a limitededition clothing collection made jointly by Eckhaus Latta an experimental New York fashion label and JCrew a classic American retailer

Who is Eckhaus Latta
Eckhaus Latta is an independent fashion brand founded by Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta in 2011 Its known for unconventional designs raw edges and genderfluid styles

Why did JCrew team up with Eckhaus Latta
JCrew wanted to celebrate American style by pairing its classic heritage with Eckhaus Lattas modern artistic take on fashion

What does celebrates American style mean here
It means the collection draws on traditional American wardrobe stapleslike denim chinos and buttondownsbut reimagines them with Eckhaus Lattas creative twist

When did this collaboration come out
It launched in 2023 as part of JCrews series of designer partnerships

Where can I buy it
It was sold on JCrews website in select JCrew stores and through Eckhaus Lattas channels Since its limited edition most pieces are now sold out or available secondhand

Intermediate Questions

What kinds of items are in the collection
The lineup includes denim knitwear buttondown shirts trousers and outerwearclassic pieces with unusual cuts fabrics or details

How is this different from a regular JCrew collection
The fits are looser and more experimental the materials are often unconventional and the designs carry Eckhaus Lattas signature deconstructed look

Whats the price range
Prices generally ran higher than standard JCrewroughly 100 to 400 depending on the piece

Is the sizing the same as regular JCrew
Not exactly Many pieces have intentionally oversized or boxy fits so checking the specific measurements for each item is smart

Why do fashion brands do collaborations like this
They help both brands reach new audiences JCrew gains cool factor and Eckhaus Latta gains mainstream exposure

Advanced Questions

What makes this collaboration significant in fashion history
It bridged two very different worldsmassmarket American