‘Uptown Prep and Downtown Weirdness’ Meld in J. Crew and Ekhaus Latta’s New Limited-Edition Collection

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J.Crew is heading downtown.

The American retailer has teamed up with New York label Eckhaus Latta on a limited-edition collection that puts a downtown spin on some of its most recognizable prep-school staples — barn jackets, chinos, rugby shirts and Rollneck sweaters included.

Launching Sept. 15, the 27-piece collection was designed by Eckhaus Latta founders Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta, who dug through decades of J.Crew catalogs for inspiration, zeroing in on the brand’s colorful, slightly off-kilter ’90s era.

“That period was our childhood, so our aesthetics and tastes will always be shaped by it.”,” Eckhaus and Latta said in a statement.

LAUNCHES SEPT. 15

J. Crew x Ekhaus Latta

Among the pieces getting the Eckhaus Latta treatment are J.Crew’s Barn Jacket, pleated skirt, chino, rugby shirt, twinset and duffle coat, alongside asymmetrical shirting, marled knitwear, double-waistband pants and brightly colored sweater sets. Accessories round out the collection, while a miniature Rollneck brings the collaboration into J.Crew’s kids department. Prices range from $75 to $650.

The partnership is an expansion of a fashion-week experiment from earlier this year. In February, J.Crew tapped Eckhaus Latta alongside Collina Strada, Buci NYC, Patrick Taylor and Tanner Fletcher to reinterpret its nearly four-decade-old Rollneck sweater for its “Rollneck Remix” project. Eckhaus Latta’s colorblocked, marled version quickly sold out, paving the way for the larger collaboration. Tonight, the two brands will host a NYFW party following Eckhaus Latta’s runway show.

The two brands occupy increasingly overlapping corners of New York fashion. Since founding Eckhaus Latta in 2011, the designers have built a cult following around unconventional casting, experimental knitwear and denim and a distinctly downtown approach to getting dressed. J.Crew, meanwhile, has spent the past several years under creative director Olympia Gayot revisiting the archival American sportswear that made it a defining mall brand of the ’80s and ’90s.

That meeting of uptown prep and downtown weirdness extends to the campaign. Photographed by Luna Conte with motion directed by Brett Milspaw, the imagery stages the collection at a crowded house party filled with artists, athletes, musicians and academics — a mash-up of the creative communities surrounding both labels.

“We wanted to preserve the experimentation, individuality and sense of community that make Eckhaus Latta so distinctive, along with the unpretentious New York energy they bring to clothes designed for how people actually live,” Gayot said. She added that revisiting J.Crew’s old catalogs revealed an era of the brand that “already possessed a little downtown tension.”

The J.Crew x Eckhaus Latta collection launches Sept. 15 at J.Crew.com and select J.Crew stores. Early access begins at 9 a.m. ET, followed by the general release at 10 a.m. ET.