Made-in-America work boots and farm-to-table food were on the menu Thursday night at a dinner party hosted by The Great designers Emily Current and Meritt Elliott at their favorite restaurant in L.A., All Time.
The occasion was the latest collab for the Americana-loving contemporary brand, which joined with Minnesota-based Red Wing to create The Great & Red Wing Heritage Boots in cute color-blocked army green, indigo or brown — and a special boot in an embossed floral brown leather.
Friends and fans of the the designers, including Kristen Bell, Mindy Kaling, Mandy Moore, Rachel Bilson and Nikki Reed, came out wearing The Great’s fall collection pieces, including the floral Savannah slipdress, the Bowling shirt with hanky embroidery, the Treeline bandana print skirt, canvas Field skirt, daisy intarsia T-shirt and more, all with Red Wings, of course.
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“We always wore them growing up, and we actually used Red Wings in an ad campaign and they reached out,” said Current of how the collaboraton came to be with the family-owned boot brand that has been around since 1905. “The company is so interesting, they have a tannery, and have all these incredible leathers, and they’re tested year after year after year.”
“I’ll wear them adventuring, but also running around New York with a dress and a trench, high-low…And I think that’s what resonated with them as well,” said Elliott. “I’d pair them back to a flowy dress, or wear them with jeans and sweaters in the winter. They’re meant to be for a lifetime.”
“Their fusion of vintage charm and contemporary style meshes seamlessly with our commitment to quality and craftsmanship,” said Amy Peck, director of product creation for Red Wing Heritage.
The collection is available now in all seven The Great boutiques and on the brand’s website. Prices range from $360 to $450.
The designers, who met at UCLA and bonded over bell-bottoms, have been partners in fashion for nearly two decades, from red carpet styling to launching their Current/Elliott boyfriend denim line with cofounder Serge Azria (where they worked from 2008 to 2012), to creating the casual Americana-focused The Great in 2015.
Over the years they have chosen exclusively to collaborate with heritage brands, including Eddie Bauer and Birkenstock. “It gives us an opportunity to have fun and create something outside of what you do every day. And we really genuinely are collectors and love brands like this,” said Current.
It’s been working well for them.
“I think we all were nervous coming into the new year. We’ve seen what’s happening in the world, and so many people making changes or closing down their businesses,” she said. “Honestly, we feel really, really good about where the company is and the growth trajectory that we’re on. And I think our customers have really been loyal to us and really like newness and what we’ve been putting out. We are self-funded so we are careful and gentle about what we do.”
The guests at the event were a mix of Hollywood types and female entrepreneurs, including home designer Heather Taylor and makeup artist Monika Blunder, all of them loyal friends of the designers’. They gathered on the restaurant’s tree-canopied patio around two long tables. Each person’s chair had a The Great denim jacket draped on the back, because the August night in L.A. did actually turn cool. Along with a leather place card with every guest’s name engraved on it was a flyer explaining Red Wing’s heritage, with black-and-white photos of women working in the factory in Minnesota on the first women’s boot, the Gloria, which was launched in 1926.
Fresh off hosting the third night of the Democratic National Convention, where she introduced Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, and wore a navy blue Monique Lhuillier sheath dress, Kaling went from being in the room with the likes of Oprah just 24 hours before in Chicago to sitting down to the intimate dinner with friends in the Los Feliz neighborhood of L.A.
“Everyone looks so incredible,” she said looking around the table at the magic of The Great’s clothes, that everyone can make them their own.
Bell stopped by to say “hi” on her way to set. “I have to go to work!” she said before dashing off.
And Blunder has known the designers since their styling days, when they all shared Jessica Alba as a client. “They’re the best,” she said of Current and Elliott.
The conversation drifted from politics to Substacks, with Blunder encouraging Kaling to start her own. The comedian said she is eager to find an outlet for more informal writing, and actually has quite a lot to say about fashion, from her love of Tory Burch to Michelle Obama’s DNC Monse look‘s $1.2 million in media impact.
Throughout, there was an air of women supporting women, as guests checked their phones to see that Kamala Harris had delivered her speech at the DNC.
Taylor, the home designer known for her own take on Americana, and collabs with West Elm, Doen and more (but not with The Great just yet) was cheering on Current and Elliott. “We’ve done so many fun little creative things together, and I wear their clothes during my shoots and love their partnerships,” Taylor said. “It’s been amazing to see their success.”
