Evan Ross Katz Shares His (Hungover) Take on the Dior x ERL Show

Last night at sunset, fashion writer Evan Ross Katz journeyed to Venice Beach’s Windward Avenue to catch the Dior x ERL Men’s capsule collection debut. Here, hungover on the balcony of his Venice hotel, the fashion guru dishes on the blissfully chaotic energy of the Kim Jones and Eli Russell Linnetz collaboration, and answers a few questions about the star-studded after party.

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INTERVIEW: Where are you?

EVAN ROSS KATZ: Physically, I’m on my hotel room’s terrace contemplating whether I want to be a person who wears their hotel robe all day (leaning towards yes, as I often do). Spiritually, I am still hovering over the sky high tower of pizza boxes at Eli [Russell Linnetz]’s after party. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much pizza—and he had it on both floors. I marvel.

INTERVIEW: What did you have for breakfast?

KATZ: First of all, appreciate you nudging me into that headspace. Here’s what I plan to have. I’m gay, so I’ll need to start the day with iced coffee. If I don’t do that, I lose all sense of self. There’s a great place by the hotel: Dogtown. Then I’m going to meet up with friends and venture to Gjusta. The Dior welcome dinner was at Gjelina, Gjusta’s sister restaurant, and I want a family vibe on this trip, so it seems like the right thing to do.

INTERVIEW: What are you wearing?

KATZ: Not the bathrobe…yet! I’m wrapped in rumpled white sheets. It’s very Douglas Kirkland x Marilyn Monroe. Well, that’s how I envision it. It probably reads more like, “Do you think he’s okay?”

INTERVIEW: What did you wear to the show? What was your look giving?

KATZ: So I had this ultra-lush navy blue Dior oblique sweater that I was set on, but then I had flashes of me on the dance floor at the afters. In a wool sweater. Melting. So, I decided today wasn’t her day. The sweater’s pronouns, by the way: she/her/hers. So I opted for a fluorescent green and khaki silk twill short-sleeved shirt. Threw on some trousers, a Levis jacket and finished it off with a Dior crossbody and sneakers.

INTERVIEW: What’s in your pockets?

KATZ: Fully empty. I’ve recently begun a saddle bag era, which might just become de-facto me. I’m all for a sleek, pockets-empty, heads-full silhouette. 

INTERVIEW: What’s in your system?

KATZ: Eli’s pizza. More of it than I’d care to admit.

INTERVIEW: What did you think of the show?

KATZ: This question made me immediately think of Carrie Bradshaw in the first Sex and the City film, when she enters that ridiculously gorgeous, sun-soaked penthouse (that she never should have moved into, IMHO). “It’s hideous. I hate it. Hurts my eyes.” In other words, What’s not to love? Interestingly—and this is why I think it made for such an electric collab—it was in with the old, in with the new. Like, in with it all. This collection was decisive. It didn’t put the pinky toe in the water to get a temperature check. It cannonballed right in there. 

INTERVIEW: What was it giving?

KATZ: Love! It was giving contradiction, which is high-key a great place to exist. Kim [Jones] said in his show notes that working with Eli “was both familiar and revelatory,” and that was apparent in the design. Eli’s show notes describe the collection as emerging out of chaos and perfectionism. A heritage house and a creative director inherently makes for a collaboration, so adding Eli into the mix adds a whole other layer. It was giving revivified.

INTERVIEW: What was your favorite look?

KATZ: First of all, there was so much hair that I wish I could recreate. Guido Paulo really turned it out for this one. As for favorite looks, it has to be the sequin-embellished ombré sweater, without question. I Saw Kevin Abstract wearing it at the after party, and it translates fabulously off the runway.

INTERVIEW: Where would you wear that look?

KATZ: I’d wear this to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie premiere. Manifesting that.

INTERVIEW: Let’s talk about the ERL collab. What did Eli bring to the table

KATZ: Chaos, just as he intended. But a willful, harnessed, directed chaos. This collaboration gave Eli the opportunity to scale his ideas to new heights. Look, these were two masters who not only respect each other, but really enjoy one another. That joy translates into the clothes and the experience. 

INTERVIEW: Tell us about the after party—what was the vibe? Who did you hang out with?

KATZ: I was emerging from a tunnel that led to the bathrooms, and was joined by a cater-waiter. Suddenly, there was a burst of fog, and we found ourselves completely lost. When the fog dispersed, we made our way back toward the dance floor’s blue lights. I thought that this experience would bond us for life, but we never spoke again. (Men, am I right?) Other than that, I had my bestie Paul by my side the whole night. Never leave home without a Paul. It was fab catching up with Christina Ricci and her hunky husband, Mark. I loved seeing Dan Levy, Kid Cudi and Taika Waititi. Rubbing elbows with Paula Abdul was a highlight, as was getting my annual Lisa Rinna selfie. Loving her new tagline, “Hi, I’m karma. And yes, I am a bitch,” by the way. Delicious!

INTERVIEW: When’s the best time to arrive at an after party?

KATZ: Early, baby. Everyone wants to be ~fashionably late~ and what’s the use in being like everyone else?

INTERVIEW: When’s the best time to leave?

KATZ: If I’m not the last one out the door, I’ve failed.