all about erdem
He’s the man behind many of the red carpet’s most detail-rich gowns. Now, he’s set to reach his biggest audience yet with a new H&M collaboration
Everything you need to know about the much-anticipated Erdem X H&M collaboration.
In Erdem Moralioglu’s office, shafts of light bounce off wall-to-wall shelves that support glossy art, fashion and photography books; the lenses of the designer’s trademark Oliver Peoples spectacles reflect the flicker of a Cire Trudon candle perched on his desk. “Is the scent too intense?” he asks as he welcomes ELLE into his workspace inside a converted fabric warehouse in London’s Aldgate. Walking into Moralioglu’s world is a kaleidoscopic, multi-sensory experience, everything perfectly poised yet slightly askew. This could also be said of his theatrical shows, his carefully curated London boutique and his narrative-rich clothes. It’s an offbeat elegance that has drawn a dedicated following of women at ease with their femininity and hungry for his unique brand of polished eclecticism.
This month, he follows in the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld, Stella Mccartney and Rei Kawakubo as H&M’S newest designer collaboration – a collection that’s destined for 220 stores in 66 countries. The line-up of 48 pieces, which lands on November 2, comes hot on the heels of some of his most emotional work to date. His AW17-18 collection – a melange of Ottoman motifs and English florals, ravishing silk velvets and black voile gowns with swishing white petticoats – started with Moralioglu fantasising about an improbable meeting of his great-grandmothers. “One was from Birmingham and the other from Istanbul; I imagined these women together at the Women’s March, sharing their stories,” he says. “I never wanted it to feel literal – it’s a fuzzy set of memories combined with the idea of a beautiful army of women marching. The figures in the show felt almost like my family.”
The 39-year-old founder of his eponymous fashion label was raised in Montreal, Canada, by a British mother, Marlene, and a Turkish father, Erkal. “My great-grandfather was a member of The Royal Scots regiment and died in France in World War I, and if you look closely at the AW17-18 collection, there are bits of hidden tartan alongside the Ottoman miniature patterns and military motifs,” he says.
“Amazing”, “wonderful”, “interesting”: these are words Moralioglu uses repeatedly, in an accent still tinged with a North American drawl. Nonetheless, he’s famous for not engaging in the histrionics for which pockets of the fashion industry have become known. Sure, he plays his part as the tuxedo-clad professional at red-carpet events and the erudite speaker at conferences, but he otherwise maintains a private life with his partner, interiors architect Philip Joseph, in their newly restored east London home. (“It’s perfect – apart from the fact there are still no door handles in the kitchen!”) They met at London’s Royal College of Art, both have twin siblings and adore hunting for obscure objects, vintage furniture and materials to reuse. Their mutual fossicking is not just for their home, but for Erdem’s flagship store, designed by Joseph and featuring a Victorian fern garden, Alvar Aalto seating, art by David Hockney and Andy Warhol and a harlequinpatterned marble floor. “I wanted the feel of a pied-à-terre – somewhere comfortable and private,” he says of the space. “It’s wonderful to have a home for the entire collection and see how women react to that.”
Moralioglu represents the success of a new guard of British designers, drawing from personal memories, impressions and popular culture to design clothes that feel both relevant for now and timeless – a defining quality of his work for H&M. “I wanted to do the antithesis of fast fashion; a collection you would keep: the perfect tweed suit or brocade party dress, and working with Harris Tweed and small Italian mills to create it. All the cotton jersey is organic,” he says.
Since kicking off its collaborative series in 2004 with Lagerfeld, Swedish high-street giant H&M has worked with A-list designers including Marni, Versace and
Balmain. By contrast, Erdem is a small, independent label known for its highly considered dresses, with a firm following from the likes of Felicity Jones, Michelle Obama, Nicole Kidman and legions of women both in and out of the public eye who adore its romantic view.
The unlikely pairing began when H&M contacted Moralioglu last December. “They approached me with the idea that we could collaborate with a filmmaker,” he says. “I found myself thinking about a ’90s video for the Pet Shop Boys that was directed by Bruce Weber. It takes place in the English countryside and sees a party of teenagers invading a stately house. The boys are wearing tuxedos and T-shirts and the girls are running around in gowns. I liked the idea of playing with the formal and informal.” When Baz Luhrmann was mentioned, Moralioglu was hooked. “He’s such an amazing storyteller – how could I say no?” he smiles. The Australian director, whose credits include The Great
Gatsby and Romeo + Juliet, worked with Moralioglu to create a video campaign for the collaboration that features models running through a garden wearing pieces from the collection.
“I love the idea of looking backwards to create things that could feel completely new again,” says Moralioglu. He looked to photos of his father in the ’70s wearing slim-fitted tweed sports jackets, memories of his mother flinging a military coat over a short dress to do the school run and his own archive of pieces dating from his first collection in 2005. Making the leap from designing $5,000 gowns to creating ones that cost a fraction of that amount with equal integrity and a sustainable ethos is no easy task. The H&M line includes floral embroidered hoodies, T-shirts and high-necked blouses, as well as hosiery, shoes and earrings, all ranging from $30.
“From the beginning, our collaborations have been about breaking down the walls of fashion and giving people the chance to own clothes by designers they may not usually get to wear,” says Ann-sofie Johansson, H&M’S creative adviser. “I love how Erdem talks about the collection like the perfect getaway in a country house, bringing together different generations and people from all sorts of backgrounds... The collection is also a nod to British heritage, using ethereal silks, carefully chosen embellishments and the language of flowers from the English garden.” In other words, it’s a true extension of his diverse, curious, completely immersive world.
Moralioglu’s graduate collection featured vintage textile “seconds” he found in Paris flea markets, mixed with African batiks discovered in London, which laid the groundwork for his future brand. In 2001, the UK’S Foreign & Commonwealth Office awarded him a Chevening scholarship, making Moralioglu the first-ever fine arts or fashion student to receive the bursary. It was the first of many accolades, including the British Fashion Council’s (BFC) Fashion Forward Award in 2008, the 2010 BFC Designer Fashion Fund Award, the BFC New Establishment Award in 2012, the BFC Red Carpet Award in 2013 and the BFC Womenswear Designer of the Year Award in 2014.
A true testament to the brand’s popularity, Erdem is now sold in more than 170 of the world’s most exclusive retailers, including Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman, Colette, Dover Street Market, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols. “His signature romance plays with the light and dark, creating a tension that moves his aesthetic forward,” says Lydia King, Selfridges’ director of womenswear buying and merchandising.
With a sanguine outlook and wickedly dry sense of humour, Moralioglu is perfectly equipped to ride the storms that have crashed through the industry, exacerbated by difficult economic times and rapidly changing tastes. With his escapist aesthetic, combined with his expertise in rarefied fabrics and patterns (Moralioglu trained in textiles at the Royal College of Art), the designer is proving a long-stayer.
Despite the awards and celebrity following, what Moralioglu seems to appreciate most is that moment we all experience in front of the mirror, whether that’s in a VIP fitting room or an H&M store. “When you zip up a dress or button up a blouse and look at yourself in the mirror, success comes down to that moment of seduction – that’s why all of us do what we do,” he says. “Of course I have pangs of doubt like anyone else, but I just keep going. It’s never the end of the world.” For the sake of our wardrobes, we hope not.