André x ELHO
*André Tags the Mountain
written MONICA DE LUNA
André in Lisbon, spray can in hand, the smell of paint in cold air, no studio, no clean desk, just ten ice-pink bombers waiting like empty walls. He says, “Today I’m painting live on 10 jackets. I hope I don’t mess them up, we only have those 10 pink jackets available! They will become unique art pieces.”
Jackets as canvas, fabric as skin, performance stitched and already humming with neon memory. ELHO hands him carte blanche. He doesn’t rehearse, he sprays directly, instinct over plan. Mr. A appears, one wink, one wide eye, loops curling, pink field grinning back.
André x ELHO FW25/26
Unique art cap
André x ELHO FW25/26
Unique art jackets
A capsule, October 2, André x ELHO. Limited, numbered, but not frozen. Phantom performance bomber, hoodies, long sleeves, tees, beanies, the collection carrying André’s world, graffiti lines wrapped in insulation, warmth inside the grin. He says, “Clothes should make you feel good and happy, and serve as protection from the grey outside world.” Protection and mischief in the same seam.
ELHO’s history runs under it, a ghost from 1948, slopes of Germany, Switzerland, neon seasons that lived until 1993, buried, dug up again by Donald Schneider with Claudia beside him. Donald once pulling strings at Vogue Paris, once launching collaborations that cracked fashion open. Now ELHO as “Freestyle,” jackets as silhouettes, down puffers with recycled feathers, Primaloft Bio, Sorona skins, boomerang zippers slicing pockets like hidden doors. He says to André, take it, tag it, burn pink into snow.
André remembers Sweden. “I’ve always liked skiing. I grew up in Sweden, and in winter skiing was just a way to get from A to B. I’m not a champion skier, but every time I go up a mountain and ski down a slope, it reminds me of the fun days of my childhood.” Childhood in tracks of snow, movement as necessity, now returning as art.
The new ELHO calls itself high-tech, fresh, ready for minus twenty, but André looks at it and sees a wall. Pink field, black grin, sprayed live. “In graffiti, freestyle means you don’t follow the strict rules of an alphabet or the straight lines of a letter. You just follow your instinct and let it guide you into making an abstract painting.” Jackets become freestyle and snow becomes a surface.
Donald Schneider
Creative Director at ELHO Streetwear / seen by Henrik Nielsen
“ELHO Freestyle to become the #1 innovative outdoor style brand for the next generation.”
Donald Schneider
Inside the collection the colors glow—ice pink, scarlet red, neon purple, neon green, black, military green. The Astro down puffer holds 90% recycled down, 10% feathers. The Nova and Phantom shell layers breathe, waterproof, cape twist, patches for self-expression. Jet pants, fleece sets, parachute cuts, names like Hill, Satellite, Cure, Fire. André’s capsule slides among them, painted, tagged, turned into a limited run of objects (acutal art pieces to wear) carrying his alter ego. He laughs, “There’s a lot of Mr. A everywhere, both big and small.”
To wear it is to enter his wink. He says, “Just wear the jacket and make it your own.” A simple command, nothing dressed in explanation. Pink with black, neon grin, a slope or a street, it doesn’t matter. Style comes from outsiders, misfits, people daring to be different. “I love when people are a bit different from the mainstream. I’ve always been fascinated by outsiders and misfits. I like when people dare to be different.”
André speaks of hotels too, Amour, Grand Amour, Le Baron, spaces of smell, sound, touch, people brushing into each other. “Creating places where people can come together, thinking about the sound, the smell, and how people interact, is part of my art.” Jackets and nightclubs, walls and hotels, always surfaces, always extensions. A hotel in the mountains, uniforms in ELHO, a ski team in pink, medals under a grin. He imagines it without hesitation. Love runs through it. “Love is what keeps me going.” Not a slogan, more like a rhythm under every spray, every loop of paint. Even in the Alps, even on a neon slope, love keeps him. He wants surprise, humor, small disruptions. He wants Mr. A everywhere, always winking, always smiling. He says, “I try to go through life with a wink and a smile, like my alter ego Mr. A.”
The André x ELHO collection stands in that place. No need for nostalgia, no need for comparison. Just jackets, pink, painted, sprayed live, turned into unique art pieces, worn with jeans, boots, skis strapped, mountains dropping. “I love the neon pink winter jacket with the black Mr. A on the back. It combines my two favorite things: Mr. A and pink.”
André x ELHO FW25/26
lookbook / seen Felix Krüger
André x ELHO FW25/26
lookbook
And maybe next, a hotel on a mountain, maybe a ski team, maybe another canvas. For now, ten pink bombers hold his spray, hoodies hum with his grin, ELHO carries the capsule into winter season 2025/2026. The slopes are ready, the streets too. He says, “I’ve always seen my art as something that belongs to everyone, that everyone can interpret and make their own.” The capsule is exactly that. Yours, his, pink, sprayed, warm, grinning. Enjoy!
ELHO FW25/26 Campaign / seen by Tobias Wirth
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all visuals (c) ELHO Freestyle