Hot New Line: L.A.’s TheEternal marries minimalist chic with downtown cool

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

TheEternal, a new collection from L.A. designers Michael Abe and Jon Rhinerson, might be the secret love child of Helmut Lang and Vanessa Bruno.

The brand certainly boasts the sharp, jacket-centric vibe of the former and the too-cool-for-school, boho feel of the latter.

But with its fur vests, wispy chiffon dresses and rocker-inspired biker jackets, TheEternal also feels very L.A., offering the kind of statement pieces, a la skintight leather pants and a tone-on-tone knit shift, that make regular appearances on affluent, style-loving girls from downtown to Malibu.

Abe, a graduate of L.A.’s Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, met Rhinerson -- who came to fashion as a creative in advertising, industrial design and carpentry -- on a design project, and the duo quickly bonded over their shared love of craftsmanship and a certain downtown-brand of femininity in fashion that juxtaposes the hard (leather, wool) with the soft (chiffon, hammered organza).

The cool collection is sold at Ron Herman, Curve and Satine in Los Angeles, and ranges in price from $153 for an angora wool lurex jersey top to $1,998 for a shearling jacket with metallic lambskin accents. Get it while it’s hot.

-- Emili Vesilind