The Queen, the Duke and the catwalk show
He is one of the Duchess of Cambridge’s favourite designers, but when it came to drawing Royal inspiration, Erdem Moralioglu went right to the top for his latest collection.
His London Fashion Week show took its cues from the Queen – specifically, her 1958 meeting with the late American jazz pianist Duke Ellington.
“Her father [King George VI] had been a huge fan of his music, and when they met, he was so enamoured with her that he wrote a piece of music called The Queen’s Suite” said Moralioglu backstage yesterday.
The catwalk closed with the music from that same composition. Until 2012, when it was rediscovered in the Smithsonian Institution, it had been played only once, in 1958.
“Thinking about The Cotton Club, and Harlem, and Dorothy Dandridge, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday”, said Moralioglu, he began to imagine: “What if she went to New York, and what if Dorothy Dandridge ended up in Buckingham Palace?”
The clothes drew inspiration from Her Majesty’s Fifties wardrobe: a heavy yellow silk gown, with ribbons at each shoulder, dripped with jewels, as did the elbow-length gloves worn with it. Raw at the hem, it was cut above the ankle with the intention of “taking that formality and turning it on its head”. The patriotic motifs which were incorporated on her Norman Hartnell-designed Coronation gown, were also borrowed.
Some gowns were accessorised with red bows at the shoulder, emulating those worn by the Queen to display her order brooches. Everything glittered – embroidered flowers bloomed with crystals and pearls.
Made using couture-level handiwork, these clothes will retail for thousands once they land in shops early in 2018. But there is a solution for those whose budgets simply won’t stretch: Moralioglu is the latest designer to collaborate with retailer H&M. In November, you will be able to buy an Erdem-designed dress for around £200. Yesterday’s collection made a distinction between the two: the aesthetic may be the same, but only one is fit for a queen.