Erdem Moralioglu: Celebrating Femininity

After graduating with a degree in fashion from Ryerson University in Toronto, Erdem Moralioglu made the move from Canada to London where he began his fashion career with an internship at Vivienne Westwood. During his time there he earned a scholarship from the British Council to attend the Royal College of Art to further his fashion education. The Turkish-British designer graduated in 2004 and launched his eponymous line, Erdem, in 2005, debuting it at London Fashion Week. Since then, he has become an international name known for capturing powerful femininity with bold florals and delicate lace. His designs have been worn by prominent women such as Kate Middleton, Michelle Obama, Alexa Chung and Felicity Jones. His focus on silhouettes and proportions are meant to make those that wear his pieces feel distinctive, beautiful and confident in their femininity.

As he grew his line, Moralioglu earned himself numerous accolades such as the Swarovski and British Fashion Council’s Fashion Enterprise Award, and support from the BFC’s Fashion Forward fund for his SS09 and SS10 lines. Then, following his win of the fashion future prize at the Elle Fashion Awards in 2009, Moralioglu received the inaugural British Fashion Council and Vogue designer Fashion Fund prize for the second time in 2010, which earned him one of the highest sums awarded to a UK-based designer. Then he hit his stride going on to win the 2012 BFC’s New Establishment Award, the 2013 Red Carpet Award and the 2014 Womenswear Designer of the Year Award.

Moralioglu grew up fascinated with womenswear, fashion and books. As a young student, he would sit in class memorising the details of his teacher’s clothing or sketching designs in the margins of his notebooks. When he brought his designs to life, he pulled inspiration from strong, powerful women like Kim Novak in Vertigo and artists like Édouard Manet. Moralioglu’s repeated use of flowers and lace emanate femininity, but bold colours partnered with distinct cuts give his designs strength that juxtaposes the stereotypical feminine style. Each seasonal line is inspired by Moralioglu’s life experiences, whether it be a trip to another country, reading a new book or hearing something on the news. This means that every one of his garments comes embedded with a strong narrative.

His most recent collection, for SS17, was inspired by the discovery of a silk dress belonging to Jean Ker, Countess of Roxburghe, by divers in the North Sea. The dress was misplaced in 1642 when a portion of a royal fleet of twelve ships was lost in a storm. Jean Ker was discovered to be a spy and was, at the time, on a trip to sell some of the crown jewels to the Netherlands. The designer took inspiration from 17th century styles found in the Fashion Museum in Bath to create the garment shapes, used Ker’s secret identity to inspire scattered jewel accents partially hidden in seams and included intricate, meaningful details in the fabric such as small crowns and roman numerals signifying the ships in the original fleet. His SS17 offering came complete with a written prologue, suggesting how the story might continue. With the recent launch of his flagship store on South Audley Street, and the publication of his 10th Anniversary Portfolio, Moralioglu is as busy as ever, but we are excited to see which story his designs will tell next.

 

On finding inspiration:

“It’s something that’s going to be the catalyst for your work. It can often come in the form of an image, a story, or it could be a scene from a movie. You’re constantly hungry for that trigger, and mine tends to be found in books.” – CNN Style, 2016

On his use of florals:

“I’ve always been intrigued by things that insinuate femininity, so in my designs, something like a flower is never about the fact that it’s a flower. It’s more about what that repetitive motif implies. I view it in the same way I view lace: Florals allude to a kind of femininity.” – Harper’s Bazaar, 2015

On individual style:

“Above all, I think women want something that feels very special and individual. Ultimately, I don’t think they want to look like everybody else. People care less and less about seasonality and which collection a piece is from. It’s more about what feels right in the moment. It’s important to be able to buy something and wear it the following year, or five years later. It’s about loving a piece that makes you feel beautiful.” – Matches Fashion, 2015

On the future of his line:

“I hope one day to have a fragrance. That would be incredible. The idea of exploring accessories more would be interesting too – I don’t have a bag at the moment. Right now is an exciting time, though, a good time. I feel very fortunate.” – Harper’s Bazaar, 2015

 

Text by Rachel E McLean