Enfants Riches Déprimés (; also known as ERD) is a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

based luxury fashion brand founded by the

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

ist, ''Henri Levy '' (also known as '' Henri Alexander Levy'').

History

ERD was founded in late 2012 by Henri Alexander as an

Avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

fashion collective, in an effort to create a French punk streetwear line based on the movements of the late 1970s and Japanese Avant-garde movements of the 1980s. One of the core precepts of the brand is high

price point Price points are prices at which demand for a given product is supposed to stay relatively high. Characteristics Introductory microeconomics depicts a demand curve as downward-sloping to the right and either linear or gently convex to the origi ...

s, with T-shirts ranging on average from $500 to $1,000, and haute couture jackets priced as high as $95,000. ERD consistently utilizes the

business model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, soci ...

artificial scarcity Artificial scarcity is scarcity of items despite the technology for production or the sufficient capacity for sharing. The most common causes are monopoly pricing structures, such as those enabled by laws that restrict competition or by high fi ...

. In this regard, all styles are sold on an extremely exclusive basis, and thus in relatively small quantities. "The price point is not only a marker of value, but intrinsically part of the piece itself," Alexander remarked in a 2015 interview with

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

. He further noted that, "No pieces are alike and everything is limited. I have no interest in making affordable pieces for the masses." Consistent with this perspective, the artist further noted in a 2016 interview with Complex Magazine that, "The best way for me to explain the brand is

elitist Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, power, notability, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be construc ...

nihilist Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Ivan ...

couture…The price point eliminates the masses, and the ideas eliminate the people who I don't want, generally, in it, due to the dark nature." The originality of ERD's designs has also resulted in other brands appropriating similar designs and styles, most notably

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragran ...

, Balmain and Vetements. ERD has made a point to be extremely particular with respect to accepting new stockists. Enfants reportedly informed stores in 2017 that if there is any evidence of carrying brands that copy ERD or feature "mid-level contemporary bullshit," the brand will categorically prohibit those stores from carrying the brand. Enfants Riches Déprimés began with just a small handful of stockists in 2012. From 2013 to 2014, the label quietly garnered a following amongst celebrities, including Jared Leto,

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper, songwriter and record executive. He rose to prominence as one-half of the hip hop duo Clipse, which was mainly active from 1994 to 201 ...

, Beyoncé, G Dragon,

Sky Ferreira Sky Tonia Ferreira (born July 8, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, model, and actress. As a teenager, Ferreira began uploading videos on Myspace of herself singing songs she had written, which led to her discovery by producers Bloods ...

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...

Frances Bean Cobain Frances Bean Cobain (born August 18, 1992) is an American visual artist and model. She is the only child of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Hole frontwoman Courtney Love. She controls the publicity rights to her father's name and image. ...

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

, Guns N' Roses, and

Zayn Malik Zain Javadd Malik ( ; born 12 January 1993), known mononymously as Zayn, is an English pop and R&B singer. Zayn auditioned as a solo contestant for the British music competition television series ''The X Factor'' in 2010. After being eliminate ...

. From 2015 to 2017, Enfants Riches Déprimés has experienced significant business growth, notably with its garments being stocked by Patron of the New, Maxfield, SSENSE,

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridg ...

10 Corso Como 10 Corso Como is a shopping and dining complex in Milan, Italy. It combines outlets that show and sell works of art, fashion, music, design, cuisine and culture. It was founded in 1990 by gallerist and publisher Carla Sozzani. History The complex ...

, Luisa Via Roma, and Trois Pommes. The brand has also earned considerable artistic acclaim in the fashion world with Alexander's trailblazing and particularly confrontational and provocative designs. These garments have catapulted the brand to an unprecedented level. Enfants Riches Déprimés unveiled its SS18 pre-collection at Christie's Paris in June 2017, the first time in which a

fashion house Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and place. "A fashion designer create ...

has shown at the historic auction house, founded in 1766.

Influences

Enfants has taken inspiration from a variety of historical sources. In an interview with V Magazine, Henri Alexander commented that "As far as other painters I am really into

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American abstract expressionist painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of the New York School, which also inc ...

. I'm envious of the scale of his work. Also, he work of

Cy Twombly Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American painter, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Twombly is said to have influenced younger artists such as ...

, Antoni Tàpies and

Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a ...

…I find particularly appealing at this point in my life. I think those that are familiar with Tàpies' work, will see he has influenced ERD from the informality to the way he uses furniture and rags." The artist has also noted being influenced by Japanese fashion designers

Rei Kawakubo (b. 1942) is a Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. She is the founder of Comme des Garçons and Dover Street Market. In recognition of the notable design contributions of Kawakubo, an exhibition of her designs entitled '' Rei ...

And

Yohji Yamamoto is a Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. Considered a master tailor alongside those such as Madeleine Vionnet, he is known for his avant-garde tailoring featuring Japanese design aesthetics. Yamamoto has won notable awards f ...

, artist

Raymond Pettibon Raymond Pettibon (born Raymond Ginn, June 16, 1957) is an American artist who lives and works in New York City. Pettibon came to prominence in the early 1980s in the southern California punk rock scene, creating posters and album art mainly for ...

, and punk rockers

Darby Crash Jan Paul Beahm (better known by his stage name Darby Crash, formerly Bobby Pyn; September 26, 1958 – December 7, 1980) was an American punk rock vocalist who, along with longtime friend Pat Smear (born Georg Ruthenberg), co-founded the punk ro ...

and Johnny Thunders.

Collaborations

Enfants Riches Déprimés has engaged in a number of collaborations over the years. In 2012, the brand did a limited T-shirt release with Young & Starving, a New York

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that works to support budding artists and curators. In 2015, the brand collaborated with

Vans Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...

to create a custom classic high-top sneaker, featuring hand-drawings and "rebellious scribbling". For their Fall Winter 2016 collection, ERD collaborated with the estate of

to create a capsule collection featuring interpretations of the late artist's polaroid works. ERD has also had a continuing relationship with the

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

ist and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, Didier Faustino. His sculpture was notably featured as the centerpiece of their Paris runway show in September 2016, which premiered the brand's Spring Summer 2017 main collection. In early 2017, Enfants Riches Déprimés collaborated with Daft Punk for their store at Maxfield in Los Angeles. In late 2016, Henri Alexander was introduced to

. Directly following his release from the hospital after being admitted for

psychological evaluation Psychological evaluation is a method to assess an individual's behavior, personality, cognitive abilities, and several other domains. A common reason for a psychological evaluation is to identify psychological factors that may be inhibiting a pers ...

, West was photographed in December 2016 visiting ERD's Los Angeles studio. There have reportedly been rumors circulating that Alexander and West are working on a collaboration for 2017. In July 2017, Enfants Riches Déprimés launched a

pop-up store Pop-up retail, also known as pop-up store (pop-up shop in the UK, Australia and Ireland) or flash retailing, is a trend of opening short-term sales spaces that last for days to weeks before closing down, often to catch onto a fad or scheduled e ...

at Maxfield, transforming the sprawling space into a

pawn shop A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...

. The shop featured a capsule collection of archival pieces, as well as a number of new limited edition styles. In June 2019, Enfants Riches Déprimés collaborated in the artistic design of Future's EP ''Save Me'' with the cover being one of his paintings and all the music videos made for the EP directed by him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enfants Riches Déprimés High fashion brands Luxury brands Clothing brands of the United States Clothing retailers of the United States Fashion accessory brands Jewelry retailers of the United States Shoe companies of the United States Companies based in Los Angeles American companies established in 2012 Clothing companies established in 2012 Retail companies established in 2012 2012 establishments in California