Erdem Says Bans Off Our Books, in the Celebration of a Queer Literary Pioneer
Review of Erdem Spring 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Disguised identities, everyday maximalism, roaring twenties
In the last installment of his trilogy, Erdem Moralioglu told The Impression backstage “A year ago it was Deborah Mitford and last season Maria Callas, so I thought the third installment of this trilogy could be someone I’ve always been interested in, namely (Marguerite) Radclyffe Hall”.
Hall was a writer who was most famous for writing the book “The Well of Loneliness” which the designer decided to re-read, describing it as “a queer bible of sorts”. The book was subsequently banned in 1928, the same year as Lady Chatterley’s Lover. A semi-biographical tale it unfurls the story of Stephen Gordon, who also spends their life as a woman living as a man with her partner, a character called Mary Llewellyn. In reality Hall herself lived with her lover Una Troubridge at a time when being a lesbian was something which wasn’t even recognised by society. Born Marguerite, the writer renamed herself John, and so spring 2025 also became about the push and pull of the masculine and the feminine.
In a departure from his structured style, the designer brought to the forefront the 1920s period – a moment of liberation from restrictive silhouettes for women – diving head-first into his research into how to reinvent flapper-style dresses, he settled on having them printed with a dissected dress in the aforementioned structured style, with the designer explaining the technique, “I had these wonderful dresses from the 1920s that we split open, created cyanotypes that we then turned into screen-prints that we used as a guide to re-embroider on pieces of linen or squares of organza”. This was done as a reference to the writer, as when Hall died Una Troubridge took her vast collection of suits and had them re-fitted to her measurements. Again talking to that push/pull as Troubridge was unashamedly female in how she presented herself, while Hall was living and presenting as a man at the time.
Looking back to last season the designer described the silhouettes as slightly haughty, however in today’s collection he wanted to implement straighter (not relaxed as he insisted) more slouchy silhouettes. Where we saw the keenest examples of this move toward something more casualised (or as casual as Erdem is likely to get) was in the surprising yet welcome use of denim for a dropped-waist dress, which was barely recognisable as the designer told The Impression “we dyed it, bleached it, then redyed it, so they almost glow”. A car coat was also given the same treatment in denim, and it was these more ‘relaxed’ inclusions with maximalist touches of course – split-sleeve knitwear with jewelled embroidery, and 1920s style dresses layered over ribbed jersey vests – which gave his collection a sense of understated evolution.
A reprint of the first page of the banned edition of ‘The Well of Loneliness’ was sewn onto the sleeve hems of each tailored suit, suits which were made in collaboration with Savile Row tailors Edward Sexton. And for those lucky enough to own a piece they will also find the lining of the jackets printed with pages from the book, with the lines that were redacted by the censors at the time.
As part of today’s presentation and its underlying inspiration, the designer also revealed that the brand would be supporting akt and Not A Phase charities which provide support for young LGBTQIA+ individuals at risk of homelessness while uplifting the lives of trans+ adults. Continuing the work which still needs to be done to achieve equality from Radclyffe Hall’s day until now.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
There was something relaxed about the 1920’s inspired draping, it felt slightly undone and just pulled together. It felt very different from the Debo (Deborah Mitford) and (Maria) Callas collections”
Erdem Moralıoğlu, creative director, Erdem
THE WRAP UP
London’s designers are never ones to stand on ceremony, as this season they seek to make the art of dressing-up much more easeful. For spring 2025 Erdem amplified softer structures and humble materials mixed in with his usual dose of decadence. But in this collection the designer gave us one in which you could imagine wearing with denim or for a Demi-formal occasion where you wanted to break from the norm. Much like this seasons literary inspiration.
