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If there’s anything in fashion more gorgeous than an Erdem dress, I can’t think of it. In London this week Erdem Moralioglu showed just why he’s considered a master of the special occasion dress.
His exquisite Spring ’17 show felt romantic and emotional. The operatic music helped, but really, the clothes were so unashamedly lovely they could move a girl to tears. (Who me? Cry over the fabulousness of a frock? Never. Okay, maybe.)
The show was charmingly accessorised by black straw hats with brims moulded into undulating waves, thick black velvet ribbons and Japanese-style platform sandals – tip: practice your tottering; exaggerated sole-heights turned up in several shows.
Anyway. It’s easy to see why willowy English girls like Kiera Knightley, Lily James and Alexa Chung love to wear Erdem on the red rug. Indeed this collection seemed made for Knightley, so much so that New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman concluded that it had a “Pirates of the Caribbean overlay”. Maybe, but for me, it never strayed too far into the costume department.
Moralioglu began the season thinking about a 17th century shipwreck, and his silhouettes did riff on historical lines – high-waists, puffed sleeves – while the jacquards had a courtly richness familiar from TV shows like The Tudors and The Royals.
But these clothes weren’t bogged down in the past. They felt light, free and full of movement. And the craftsmanship is off the scale. Historical-schmorical. When so many brands are speeding up, Moralioglu seems to be slowing down. If you ask me that’s a completely modern idea.
