Erdem – SPRING 2021 READY-TO-WEAR
It reads like a mad experiment: Lock up Erdem Moralioglu in his London house for four months, deny him access to the museums and libraries that oxygenate his storyteller mind, and throw in a Susan Sontag novel, then lean back and enjoy the show. “It begins with three people dancing on the lip of a volcano,” the designer said of the collection he authored and drew in quarantine. Inspired by The Volcano Lover, Sontag’s portrait of the 18th-century beauty Emma Hamilton, who married a volcanologist obsessed with Grecian vases and had a passionate love affair with Lord Nelson, this was how Moralioglu coped with everything that happened in the spring of 2020
ERDEM is an independent house of bold fashion for women, based in London. Founded in 2005 by designer Erdem Moralioglu, the brand has forged its own path within the industry. Poetic and rigorous, ageless and timeless, powerful and versatile, Erdem’s world is an intriguing interplay of strength and beauty.
In fifteen years, Erdem has established an exuberant language of femininity that transcends fashion to inspire strength and confidence in the women for whom he designs. It is a passionate language that is evocative and eccentric in character, fluently spoken with a beauty that is intense and romantic.
The house of ERDEM is cultured and erudite, underpinned by a belief in the power and skill of craftsmanship. Mind and hand work together to bring imagination to life with precision, artistry and the compelling dexterity of the handmade. Respect for traditional skills is combined with an excitement for innovation, in technique and application.
Erdem is at heart a storyteller. Collections are formed around a narrative championing heroic women at a particular place and a moment in time. Erdem’s fashion is dramatic, atmospheric and expressive in the service of emotion: it is not what she wears, but how she feels that matters.
