by Why are some designers forever searching for a character to hang their next collection on? Because “creating a narrative” can add richness and depth to a show that, at best, feels all the way to the finished clothes hanging on the rail in a store somewhere in the world, or on a website some. This is a process that can help a dress or jacket, or whatever, to be much more than something that fits and flatters.
This is the Erdem way. In Erdem Moralıoğlu’s last collection, the tragic aura of Maria Callas infused the silhouette of the 1950s with soul. Before that, Debo Devonshire encouraged him to give his beloved flowers a faded wash, giving them a romantic look. For the spring of 2025, he has just spent the last few months living in a world inhabited by lesbians of the 1920s – in particular Radclyffe Hall, the famous author of the even more infamous 1928 lesbian novel, The Well of Loneliness. (I also saw a picture of Oscar Wilde on his mood board backstage – gay authors have stood out for a long time so well dressed).
Radclyffe, born Marguerite, but later known as John, is a gift to any designer who wants to improve their accessories, since she embraced all the Savile Row trends of the day: white dress shirts without Studs, pins and cuffs, three piece suits, bow ties, homburgs and brogues. The Well of Loneliness banned for obscenity in 1928 and would not be published again in England until 1949. But Radclyffe and Una, Lady Troubridge, lived quite openly together until Radclyffe’s death in 1943.
All this is very interesting, as the history of omissions usually is, especially when the main people get out with actions that we think would put them in big trouble. Sometimes the past is more tolerant, more sophisticated and more willing to turn a blind eye than we patronize.
But apart from making some good notes in the little booklets that Erdem likes to produce for guests at his shows, does this have any direct impact on the clothes? In this case, absolutely. The tailoring – made in collaboration with Sexton of London (whose late founder, Edward Sexton, dressed The Beatles, The Stones, Stella McCartney, Annie Lennox, Harry Styles and Mark Ronson) is extremely dandy, with a soft touch .
Pinstriped, double breasted, black or pistachio, the blazers were worn as a complete suit – or, with embellished skirts. The archly feminine Una Troubridge inspired some excellent Erdem flapper dresses: 1920s silk satin columns in chartreuse or cerise, with crystal jewelery (or fringe and track sashes), and Poiret’s striking drop-waist puffball skirt made from jewel-encrusted denim pistachios.
There were also the soft velvet bags with sculptural gold handles and the flat edged monk shoes. The Well of Loneliness – a literary departure from boring, blingy monograms.
Erdem has devoted fans around the world, including the Princess of Wales and many other royals, who appreciate the delicate beauty of his clothes. But he knows that the beauty can be cloy and that some tendency (control) leaves him. It means that sometimes his head is overflowing with noisy and disparate voices from the past. It’s hard to shake the influence of Fanny and Stella, two Victorian men who lived together as women and inspired his spring/summer 2019 collection.
But Erdem seems to like it that way. “It gets very busy there sometimes,” he says of his head. It’s clearly working for him.
Elsewhere on Sunday’s schedule, Roksanda Ilinč has presented her own take on femininity – ultra-girly ruffled dresses washed with bold color combinations; Eggplant, mint, bubblegum and terracotta. The collection featured tactile raffia fabrics and a rustic tinsel edge. Guests including Zawe Ashton, Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson sat in the front row with dresses and shoes falling past their knees.
Emilia Wickstead took her inspiration from photography – particularly the German-French photojournalist Gisèle Freund and the ‘street’ images she took of men and women in the 1950s. This led to floral beaded embroidery and more vintage upholstery options. If nothing else next spring, there should be an abundance of good pastel trouser suits to consider.
Jonathan Anderson, designer of JW Anderson, took an experimental approach. His trompe l’oeil silk satin minidresses were printed with a sweater hood look, served alongside jumbo woven dresses and gathered puffball meringue skirts. Clive Bell’s teachings on the art of design were printed on silk and knitted in a ribbon-like intarsia at the time – as if the document had been put through a shredder.
Simone Rocha, who showed her collection at the Old Bailey, captured faux silk carnation flowers in layered organza dresses and window box shelves on the bodices. The carnation icon was set in crystal jewels on stockings and bags – the cheapest supermarket flower is often the most popular next spring.
