He looks surprised when I assure him that they did, in turn leaving me shocked. Given the present rhapsodies summoned up in honour of the Canadian-born, London-based designer, one might assume him well accustomed to the idea of ladies weeping all over his delightful prints and embroidered frocks. Reputedly not. But then Moralioglu, 32, is a modest soul. When he comes to meet the Stella team in the reception of the huge building in east London that accommodates his little studio his demeanour is so polite and obliging – offering coffee and tea and then tootling off to make it – that for an instant I question if this could be the doppelgnger of a successful fashion designer. Dressing the great and the grand obviously has not gone to his head. His name may not yet be rolling off your tongue with the familiarity of a Gucci or Prada, but since he launched his label in London in 2005 Moralioglu’s stylish, female collections, his affection for a longer-length dress, regularly smothered in pretty print, especially florals, and his employ of the finest embroidery and fabrics have gathered him fans like Keira Knightley, Claudia Schiffer and Ashley Olsen. But this year the roll-call of those individuals who wear Erdem got heavy.
He dressed both Samantha Cameron and Sarah Brown – engaged in the election campaign in mannered fisticuffs over who might be quite the most supportive proponent of UK fashion designers. Michelle Obama was a different league altogether. And Anna Wintour, esteemed editor of American Style ? When she was wearing a floral-print dress of his in June that was major news.
Re fashion status, Moralioglu’s work was done.
He might have packed up his pencils and put away his pins then and there. But that is just stupid talk and Moralioglu is not just a talented creator of dresses but dangerous serious about building a robust and lasting fashion label. Might he even be a little irked about the attention given to the distinguished girls who have selected Erdem of late? ‘It doesn’t irk me, ‘ he is saying, as we talk in the clearly non-couture environs of a drafty corridor outside his studio. ‘But I have never centered somebody, never actively pursued somebody to dress, so it’s neither here nor there. What was really flattering was seeing ladies of every age in my clothing. At 1 time, in a week, we had Michelle Obama, Sarah Brown, Thandie Newton and one of the Olsen twins [in Erdem]. That to me was brilliant because there were 1 or 2 demographics there. ‘ He smirks. ‘Let me put it this way. I suspect the ladies we dress would never buy something simply because somebody famous has worn it. I loathe that concept. I have never acquired something because I saw a statesman wear it. Or a production star either. And I do not believe you would, would you? ‘ definitely not. I would nonetheless, nab the dresses off their backs. Oh, to waft about in Erdem, so dreamy, so modern. Last month a floor-length, butterfly-print dress from the new autumn collection was on the cover of English Style ’s C atwalk Report, the magazine’s guide to what’s hot-hot-hot for the fashion season ahead. Within , the label popped up continually – not just the long released dresses ( ‘pretty poetess’ ), but a hand-made cape ( ‘this season’s fave cover-up’ ), a boylike, crew-neck sweater over a long swishy satin skirt ( ‘grunge glamour’ ) and the Nicholas Kirkwood boots decorated in Erdem’s digitally manipulated print ( ‘high-heeled hikers’ ), underlining just how much he’s hitting the nail on its trendy head. What’s funny and moderately bewildering is that this collection, the one which had women weeping, was partially provoked by the 1993 film Alive – an aeroplane disaster film usually unusual for Ethan Hawke eating human flesh. An opportunity viewing of that, mixed with a re-look at Picnic on Hanging Rock and pictures of Arctic skylines, emailed to him by his twin sister, Sara, who was engaged on a nature documentary in Siberia at the time, got the designer thinking about highschool back in Montral.
‘The way girls used to dress there. It was awfully snowy and the girls wore crew necks and mini-skirts and bare legs.
Teens always do that, don’t they? Underdress in cold weather? ‘ Moralioglu has that uplift at the end of a sentence and a clipped style of speech – all charmingly squished Canadian vowels – that lend him his very own fresh demeanour.
In reality in his retro Americana T-shirt and geeky glasses he might be right back in the high-school discussing team. ( as a teen he was keen on extra-curricular activities, seemingly. ).
