J.Crew and Eckhaus Latta Recast Prep Classics With Downtown Edge

J.Crew is bringing its signature prep aesthetic downtown through a new collaboration with New York label Eckhaus Latta.

The American retailer has partnered with the label on a limited-edition collection that reimagines familiar J.Crew staples—including barn jackets, chinos, rugby shirts and Rollneck sweaters—through Eckhaus Latta’s distinctly downtown lens.

Launching Sept. 15, the 27-piece collection was designed by Eckhaus Latta founders Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta. The duo explored decades of J.Crew catalogs for inspiration, focusing on the brand’s colorful and slightly unconventional 1990s aesthetic.

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

Eckhaus Latta’s reinterpretations include J.Crew’s Barn Jacket, pleated skirt, chinos, rugby shirt, twinset and duffle coat. The collection also features asymmetrical shirting, marled knitwear, double-waistband trousers and brightly colored sweater sets. Accessories complete the lineup, while a child-size Rollneck extends the collaboration into J.Crew’s kids collection. Prices range from $75 to $650.

The partnership expands on a fashion-week experiment introduced earlier this year. In February, J.Crew invited Eckhaus Latta, Collina Strada, Buci NYC, Patrick Taylor and Tanner Fletcher to reinterpret its nearly four-decade-old Rollneck sweater for the “Rollneck Remix” project. Eckhaus Latta’s colorblocked, marled version sold out quickly, helping pave the way for the broader collaboration. The brands will also host a New York Fashion Week party following Eckhaus Latta’s runway show.

The two labels occupy increasingly connected corners of New York fashion. Since founding Eckhaus Latta in 2011, Eckhaus and Latta have developed a cult following through unconventional casting, experimental knitwear and denim, and a distinctly downtown approach to dressing. 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 1980s and 1990s.

That blend of uptown prep and downtown eccentricity carries into the campaign. Photographed by Luna Conte with motion direction by Brett Milspaw, the imagery places the collection at a crowded house party filled with artists, athletes, musicians and academics, bringing together the creative communities surrounding both brands.

“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 archives revealed a period in the brand’s history 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.

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