Henri is probably the most misunderstood designer today. I spent like 6 months in this shit hole but infested free sober living with Henri when he was around 18 or 19 . He had been living on his own for a few years. Think he started going to punk concerts like at 8 with his caregiver and I saw a picture of him in a tiny school uniform jacket already torn up with safety pins looks much like the clothes he makes today. He shared he got kicked out of a ton of schools as he was rebellious but the kid was mad talented, he was getting tons of scholarship letters from the top art schools and he chose UCLA. 2-3 years later ran into him at a Kinkos he was shipping some caps, he started the company himself with like $100 he managed to save and not spend on drugs and was still at UCLA but not sober. He is sharing exactly who is and what he has experienced and what he loves punk music, art etc through his clothes. His life isn't as linear or one dimensional as most. Despite how he comes across in interviews super nice humble righteous funny guy.
I think a big blind spot people have when approaching ERD is failing to take Levy's perspective at face value and without judgement, that being the genuine lived experience of another human being, and instead immediately assigning labels like "nepo baby" or other reductive terms that discount him and his work based solely on his privileged background. He didn't chose rich parents, no one does, in the same way no one choses to be born into poverty. The perspective he provides is just as valuable as anyone else's, and I've found that there are a LOT of very interesting themes that Levy explores in his work that other brands haven't. On that point, one that sticks out immediately are his semi-frequent allusions to Communism over several seasons (the Mao assemblage shirt at 3:49, the hammer and sickle Winona boots from A/H2023, etc.). IMO, these allusions are a reference to champagne socialists, such as rich kids who can recite Kapital line by line but can't stand physical labor. Combining this with other pervasive themes in Levy's work such as self-hate, guilt, and a desire for self-destruction, my opinion is that Levy is commenting on how champagne socialists come into existence (rich kids hating their lives, blaming it on their wealth, and adopting an ideology that rejects material excess as a way to live with themselves.) Or I could be reading into it too deeply. But there is clearly a depth to Levy's work, design references and general brand ethos that won't permit me to brush off these allusions as "in passing" simply because Levy thought it would look cool to put a hammer and sickle on a pair of Doc Martens. Finally, I will say that I'm not totally in support of the price point. But to say that elitism and punk are polar opposites is really funny, considering the amount of elitism that already exists within what remains of the punk subculture today (that isn't real punk, THIS is, and so forth). Punks in the 70s and today demand a level of commitment above the surface level that simple adherence to ideology does not suffice -- you must act the same, dress the same, and listen to exactly the same things, otherwise you aren't punk. Is that itself not a form of elitism? ERD demands commitment too, but financially as well as ideologically. Also, I will note that other brands that charge exorbitant amounts for even simple basics (Rick Owens comes to mind) are not treated in the same way. All luxury brands demand financial commitment. ERD just says the quiet part out loud.
I think that's all a fairly generous interpretation. Even if you are to accept the points then what is it? Self-satirisation? Empty posturing? Who is the joke on? I take your point but punk is a movement, ERD is a brand. By buying the pieces what are you committing to? What is the ethos? The whole brand is hollow cosplay
@@moonmoon221facts…and just to add he was a baby when Columbine sh**ting happened so it clearly wasn’t a “lived experience”. LA kids are somewhat all the same, they care about marketing and “shock value” and the state of punk right now is…make something distressed and dark…make it exorbitantly expensive, give it to “cool” LA youth, and athletes and Chinese kids will buy it all up
@@ftrsaliyf-zd4wk the brand draws inpiration not only from punk but from art, literature photography. Basically Henri has let us into his mind and his world and its fascinating and its well done.
@@moonmoon221i don’t think there is any movement that Levy is trying to instill. This brand feels like self-expression via clothing, and not meant to “maximize profit”
Its litterally just a depressed rich kid selling clothes only other depressed rich kids can afford AND THAT PRECISELY is the ethos behind the brand. Its pretentious, but at the same time one of the few times where the pricepoint isnt about being exclusive luxury, but about requiring a common experience. Unlike mainstream designer brands like LV or Gucci that are expensive cause they intentionally market towards the middle class that wants to front wealth, ERD markets exactly to the people that can afford it and the price is meant as a deterrent for the ones that cant cause they inherently dont share the common experience of the "struggles" of a rich kid, cause they arent rich kids... Its EXTREMELY pretentious, but also very honest. They are basically just saying: "If this is too much money for you then you cannot relate to the message behind the brand anyways"
Honestly just comes off as "look at how much money we can charge people and get away with it ! Isn't it weird how that works ? This says a lot about the system. I am very smart" when in actuality the brand is just a revamp of masculine heroin chic (hints of slimane) and japanese 80s and 90s punk brands reference. Most garments and collab aren't even bad, but it tries so hard to hover over such a dumb fucking message that I can't help but feel like it's just another way for the rich to romanticize their coke-fuelled sadness instead of getting a personality, boooooring.
cool video but honestly ERD is just an amalgamation of Westwood and several niche Japanese punk brands that all existed beforehand and with too many direct comparisons with many of ERD’s pieces. Just a nepo baby copy pasting from communities he hopes won’t pay notice.
most popular luxury brands use crazy markups for the same reasons - exclusivity and brand image. ERD is one of the few to outright admit it. nothing wrong with that, but problems come the ethos of the brand is literally just ‘depressed rich kids’ buying overpriced clothes to cosplay as punk. extremely shallow
this dude is such a poser it's comical. Yeah let's just take some punk imagery and slap it on a shirt and charge thousands of dollars for it - so haute couture, so "punk" lmao
Henri obviously didn’t squander his privileged background to get to where he is atm. Can tell he clearly works hard on bringing his vision of ERD. But with this privilege, hope he brings people up with opportunities, who were not as financially flush as he was
Pretty much. Just some rich fashion designer who probably has never worried about putting food on the table or having people of his race/gender identity/orientation/class getting discriminated against or erased. All he did is take the fashion of a culture that came from struggle, call his brand “depressed rich kids”, and make money off of it, of course starting it with his parents’ money for all I know
All the haters sound like jealous maniacs. It's sort of hilarious and sad at the same time as the responses are very one dimensional and not very smart.
"Brands copying ERD" - pft the whole thing is a Raf Simons rip. Pseudo intellectualising your price point doesn't make you elite, and buying it makes you an idiot
I can guarantee that every person in the comments jabbering about how the brand it’s a rip off have never touched or seen the clothes in person. If the clothes were blanks they would still hold their value in quality and construction.
What a bunch of trash, I’m not oppose to spending a lot of money on clothes but atleast with other brands you get something in return. Its mostly a bunch of crappy screenprinted graphic tees, comparing this to the millions of dollars in research and developement that other brands do its pathetic. The few pieces that look like they take more than a child slave to make are outrageously overpriced and they use their whole brand name and ethos as no more than an excuse to get away with it. For 10k theres so many other pieces that you get much more from other brands, either you get better quality or a better idea. This is just water down Raf Simmons for more money.
Shit like this is pushing me away from high fashion and into Techwear like Stone Island and Acronym. Atleast with them you get a garment that has been thought of and highly engineered to perfection. With brands like this it’s more about the idea than the clothing itself. The item you get is secondary to how the brand makes you feel, which is wrong to me. Did they ever even think about the functionality and how something works? Or did they just say “eh find a blank and slap our name on it” its just pure stylishness and flavor, no substance, rant over.
@@terrylibin6877 erd is not art. My stone island jacket takes more effort and creativity to be created than a shitty little screen printed tee of something related to punk music. Its really sad shit like this is the reason why fashion is looked down upon. I just brought up techwear because it is the opposite of brands like erd, fully focused on function and form instead of romantic ideas of exclusivity and crappy social commentary. Focus on the CLOTHES themselves not the idea of the brand. Many will likely follow in my footsteps after getting tired of the pretencious way high fashion is
✅🎆I am back, and therfore i need your help! What brands/designer or topics do you wanna hear about next?
Number (n)ine
Cecilie Bahnen and Shushu Tong
love your vids the only thing about this guy unfortunetly is that i feel that hes a rich kid cosplaying as a punk sadly.
💯. He totally rips off my Culture.
Yeah this sucks. Just some bourgeois asshole ripping off the very essence of counter-culture to appropriate it for some brand of his
You’re missing the point entirely
Punks come from all backgrounds. He has showcased deep interest in the music and culture, more than the average punk.
@@ShotsMerkzAll ask him if he knows los saicos? Or bad brains or his views on capitalism?
Henri is probably the most misunderstood designer today. I spent like 6 months in this shit hole but infested free sober living with Henri when he was around 18 or 19 . He had been living on his own for a few years. Think he started going to punk concerts like at 8 with his caregiver and I saw a picture of him in a tiny school uniform jacket already torn up with safety pins looks much like the clothes he makes today. He shared he got kicked out of a ton of schools as he was rebellious but the kid was mad talented, he was getting tons of scholarship letters from the top art schools and he chose UCLA. 2-3 years later ran into him at a Kinkos he was shipping some caps, he started the company himself with like $100 he managed to save and not spend on drugs and was still at UCLA but not sober. He is sharing exactly who is and what he has experienced and what he loves punk music, art etc through his clothes. His life isn't as linear or one dimensional as most. Despite how he comes across in interviews super nice humble righteous funny guy.
He’s also a nice fckn guy, very down to earth imo
@@Snappy650I don’t think so by his interviews
@@slasckisl3493 he made a comedy!!
@@slasckisl3493 meet him in person, then judge. It’s not like he’s being 100% with journalists of all people
@@Snappy650 just met him lol super nice dude
I think a big blind spot people have when approaching ERD is failing to take Levy's perspective at face value and without judgement, that being the genuine lived experience of another human being, and instead immediately assigning labels like "nepo baby" or other reductive terms that discount him and his work based solely on his privileged background. He didn't chose rich parents, no one does, in the same way no one choses to be born into poverty. The perspective he provides is just as valuable as anyone else's, and I've found that there are a LOT of very interesting themes that Levy explores in his work that other brands haven't.
On that point, one that sticks out immediately are his semi-frequent allusions to Communism over several seasons (the Mao assemblage shirt at 3:49, the hammer and sickle Winona boots from A/H2023, etc.). IMO, these allusions are a reference to champagne socialists, such as rich kids who can recite Kapital line by line but can't stand physical labor. Combining this with other pervasive themes in Levy's work such as self-hate, guilt, and a desire for self-destruction, my opinion is that Levy is commenting on how champagne socialists come into existence (rich kids hating their lives, blaming it on their wealth, and adopting an ideology that rejects material excess as a way to live with themselves.) Or I could be reading into it too deeply. But there is clearly a depth to Levy's work, design references and general brand ethos that won't permit me to brush off these allusions as "in passing" simply because Levy thought it would look cool to put a hammer and sickle on a pair of Doc Martens.
Finally, I will say that I'm not totally in support of the price point. But to say that elitism and punk are polar opposites is really funny, considering the amount of elitism that already exists within what remains of the punk subculture today (that isn't real punk, THIS is, and so forth). Punks in the 70s and today demand a level of commitment above the surface level that simple adherence to ideology does not suffice -- you must act the same, dress the same, and listen to exactly the same things, otherwise you aren't punk. Is that itself not a form of elitism? ERD demands commitment too, but financially as well as ideologically. Also, I will note that other brands that charge exorbitant amounts for even simple basics (Rick Owens comes to mind) are not treated in the same way. All luxury brands demand financial commitment. ERD just says the quiet part out loud.
He rips off Our Cultures.
I think that's all a fairly generous interpretation. Even if you are to accept the points then what is it? Self-satirisation? Empty posturing? Who is the joke on?
I take your point but punk is a movement, ERD is a brand. By buying the pieces what are you committing to? What is the ethos? The whole brand is hollow cosplay
@@moonmoon221facts…and just to add he was a baby when Columbine sh**ting happened so it clearly wasn’t a “lived experience”. LA kids are somewhat all the same, they care about marketing and “shock value” and the state of punk right now is…make something distressed and dark…make it exorbitantly expensive, give it to “cool” LA youth, and athletes and Chinese kids will buy it all up
@@ftrsaliyf-zd4wk the brand draws inpiration not only from punk but from art, literature photography. Basically Henri has let us into his mind and his world and its fascinating and its well done.
@@moonmoon221i don’t think there is any movement that Levy is trying to instill. This brand feels like self-expression via clothing, and not meant to “maximize profit”
Its litterally just a depressed rich kid selling clothes only other depressed rich kids can afford AND THAT PRECISELY is the ethos behind the brand. Its pretentious, but at the same time one of the few times where the pricepoint isnt about being exclusive luxury, but about requiring a common experience. Unlike mainstream designer brands like LV or Gucci that are expensive cause they intentionally market towards the middle class that wants to front wealth, ERD markets exactly to the people that can afford it and the price is meant as a deterrent for the ones that cant cause they inherently dont share the common experience of the "struggles" of a rich kid, cause they arent rich kids... Its EXTREMELY pretentious, but also very honest. They are basically just saying: "If this is too much money for you then you cannot relate to the message behind the brand anyways"
poor rich kids 😢
i hate this brand so much
One of the last remaining interesting brands
Amazing video, glad to see you back
Please do more of these longer videos!
5 minutes, "longer videos". This is your brain on TikTok
Keep up with this type of videos, its very good. Do Loewe or Bode next.
just found your channel this is awesome
nice video bro and also great quality fr
Well researched, i´m looking forward too more videos, please just make the voice a bit louder.
4:02 ...did you meant to say Robert Mapplethorpe rather than Motherwell??
Honestly just comes off as "look at how much money we can charge people and get away with it ! Isn't it weird how that works ? This says a lot about the system. I am very smart" when in actuality the brand is just a revamp of masculine heroin chic (hints of slimane) and japanese 80s and 90s punk brands reference. Most garments and collab aren't even bad, but it tries so hard to hover over such a dumb fucking message that I can't help but feel like it's just another way for the rich to romanticize their coke-fuelled sadness instead of getting a personality, boooooring.
lol get a fuckin clue
You just named extremely interesting references to make a point about how the brand is “boring”.
@@ShotsMerkzAllthe problem is you have to do some serious transformative work with those refferences, otherwise it's derivative
ERD hard fasho
great video
cool video but honestly ERD is just an amalgamation of Westwood and several niche Japanese punk brands that all existed beforehand and with too many direct comparisons with many of ERD’s pieces. Just a nepo baby copy pasting from communities he hopes won’t pay notice.
agreed,but cant deny they are still an interesting brand sometimes
Mix bit of Hedi Slimane to that too
hmm, interesting, I can se where you are coming from definitely.
Uh We paid notice first time we saw him ripping off Our Cultures
it's a less subtle Raf Simons
good shit bro
With westside Gunn in the background 😳
nice
bro this was taken from wikipedia lol
most popular luxury brands use crazy markups for the same reasons - exclusivity and brand image. ERD is one of the few to outright admit it. nothing wrong with that, but problems come the ethos of the brand is literally just ‘depressed rich kids’ buying overpriced clothes to cosplay as punk. extremely shallow
this dude is such a poser it's comical. Yeah let's just take some punk imagery and slap it on a shirt and charge thousands of dollars for it - so haute couture, so "punk" lmao
Afton Drives
Larson Estate
YIPPE UR BACK
Henri obviously didn’t squander his privileged background to get to where he is atm. Can tell he clearly works hard on bringing his vision of ERD. But with this privilege, hope he brings people up with opportunities, who were not as financially flush as he was
What fuckin vision. He literally rips off Our Cultures.
@@ftrsaliyf-zd4wk state any 100%, completely reference-free idea you have ever had
Yeah, all he’s doing is ripping off a culture that came from struggle and rebellion for some brand made by a bourgeois designer
Yea sure you are Motherwell and all other artists this isnt just punk this incorporates lots of other things.
soooooo what I hear you saying is that he's a poser who has completely misunderstood the ethos of punk
Pretty much. Just some rich fashion designer who probably has never worried about putting food on the table or having people of his race/gender identity/orientation/class getting discriminated against or erased. All he did is take the fashion of a culture that came from struggle, call his brand “depressed rich kids”, and make money off of it, of course starting it with his parents’ money for all I know
Yep
All the haters sound like jealous maniacs. It's sort of hilarious and sad at the same time as the responses are very one dimensional and not very smart.
Reminds of the Voyage ethos. There is talent here so……
"Brands copying ERD" - pft the whole thing is a Raf Simons rip. Pseudo intellectualising your price point doesn't make you elite, and buying it makes you an idiot
Fascinating how he rips off all our styles
You make a whole video on ERD but not even once check how it's pronounced.
What the fck am I supposed to get from this video?
i hate rich people
I can guarantee that every person in the comments jabbering about how the brand it’s a rip off have never touched or seen the clothes in person. If the clothes were blanks they would still hold their value in quality and construction.
What a bunch of trash, I’m not oppose to spending a lot of money on clothes but atleast with other brands you get something in return. Its mostly a bunch of crappy screenprinted graphic tees, comparing this to the millions of dollars in research and developement that other brands do its pathetic. The few pieces that look like they take more than a child slave to make are outrageously overpriced and they use their whole brand name and ethos as no more than an excuse to get away with it. For 10k theres so many other pieces that you get much more from other brands, either you get better quality or a better idea. This is just water down Raf Simmons for more money.
Shit like this is pushing me away from high fashion and into Techwear like Stone Island and Acronym. Atleast with them you get a garment that has been thought of and highly engineered to perfection. With brands like this it’s more about the idea than the clothing itself. The item you get is secondary to how the brand makes you feel, which is wrong to me. Did they ever even think about the functionality and how something works? Or did they just say “eh find a blank and slap our name on it” its just pure stylishness and flavor, no substance, rant over.
Tech brands have NOTHING to do with art. You are missing the whole point.
@@terrylibin6877 erd is not art. My stone island jacket takes more effort and creativity to be created than a shitty little screen printed tee of something related to punk music. Its really sad shit like this is the reason why fashion is looked down upon. I just brought up techwear because it is the opposite of brands like erd, fully focused on function and form instead of romantic ideas of exclusivity and crappy social commentary. Focus on the CLOTHES themselves not the idea of the brand. Many will likely follow in my footsteps after getting tired of the pretencious way high fashion is
@@BigFatSeal10 aka you can't afford it. Those are usually the haters.
@@terrylibin6877 My Acronym jacket is 3k but you actually get something for your dollar, price is not the issue its the value
@@terrylibin6877We can afford it, most of it sells on Taobao for pennies