The Sombr MTV VMAs outfit that stopped the red carpet on Sunday night was built around one accessory its wearer demanded less than a day before the show: a crystal-studded belt buckle spelling out ‘SEX’, crafted at short notice from a designer’s personal archive in Venice Beach.
The 21-year-old musician arrived at the VMAs in a faux-skunk coat, bare chest stacked with necklaces, copious eyeliner, and flared leather trousers. The buckle, though, was the anchor of the look. And according to ERL’s Eli Russell Linnetz, the whole concept came from Sombr himself.
How the SEX Buckle Came Together
‘The “SEX” buckle concept came from Sombr,’ Linnetz said in an email. The musician had originally been lined up to wear an ERL logo buckle, ‘but the day before the VMAs, he came to us with the idea that it should say “SEX” instead. We had less than 24 hours to make it happen.’
Linnetz pulled from his personal archive of crystals and antique pins to produce the piece at the label’s atelier in Venice Beach, close to the downtown Los Angeles venue where the VMAs were held. Working with stylist Jake Sammis, the three landed on rock god Billy Idol as the primary inspiration. ‘There’s something about Billy’s style that feels rebellious, glamorous, slightly dirty (and very LA),’ Linnetz said.
Linnetz is no stranger to one-off hardware on a tight brief. He previously created a one-of-one buckle that Kendrick Lamar wore on his GNX album cover, drawing on the same kind of archival sourcing that produced the Sombr piece.
The Sombr MTV VMAs outfit also carried an unplanned historical resonance. Sombr, whose legal name is Shane Michael Boose, wore the ‘SEX’ buckle during his onstage cameo for Madonna and Charli XCX’s show-opening performance, an inadvertent nod to Madonna’s infamous 1992 coffee table book of the same name.
Sombr’s George Michael Tribute and a Real Leather Jacket
Later in the broadcast, the buckle came off. Sombr appeared as part of a multi-artist tribute to the late George Michael, and the look shifted accordingly. He kept the ERL lace-up leather trousers and the skate chains designed by jeweller Tom Binns, who happens to live next door to Linnetz in Venice Beach. But the statement piece for the tribute was something borrowed rather than made.
According to Instagram, Sombr wore George Michael’s actual customised black Harley-Davidson leather jacket during the performance. The weight of that detail is hard to overstate: he was not wearing a replica or a tribute piece but the garment itself.
As Parade reports, Sombr performed two of Michael’s most popular songs, ‘Faith’ and ‘Father Figure’, as part of the tribute set. The segment drew strong reactions from fans, with Parade noting it sparked fierce debate among viewers.
Both looks, the red carpet arrival and the tribute performance, were conceived as a single statement. Per Linnetz, each was meant ‘to feel unapologetic, larger than life, and distinctly Sombr.’ The 1970s is Sombr’s usual sartorial touchstone, and both the glam-rock excess of the red carpet ensemble and the reverence built into the George Michael tribute fit that framework without forcing it.
The VMAs tribute arrives at a moment of renewed attention on George Michael’s catalogue. Paste Magazine reports that a live album, George Michael: The Faith Tour, is expected to arrive on 6 November, with a tour film of the same name set for US theatrical release on 11 December.
