Erdem enters the wonderful world of interiors

Erdem Moralıoğlu has had reason to celebrate of late. When we speak, it’s only a few weeks since he presented his spring/summer 2021 collection at London Fashion Week – which served as a reminder of the joy of dressing up, despite the lack of audience, even in the most unusual of times. What’s more, just days ago, it was announced that the designer will receive an MBE for his services to the fashion industry. A “huge compliment” for all of his team, he says, not to mention “a wonderful way to celebrate our 15-year anniversary”.

Congratulations are in order all round, then. But what we are talking about today is a fresh venture for the brand (although not an entirely new endeavor for the designer himself), as Moralıoğlu makes a foray into the world of interiors under his eponymous label. For NET-A-PORTER’s expansion of the Lifestyle offering, with throws, candles and ceramics, he has designed two sumptuous floral-knit blankets.

This felt like a natural progression for his fashion house in its 15th year, Moralıoğlu reflects. “When I opened my store about five years ago, while celebrating our 10th anniversary, there was something about understanding who your woman is,” he considers. “What art she collects, what sofa she sits on, what kind of carpet she’d want to feel under her feet, what special pieces of furniture she’d collect…”

He imagines these blankets, then – “merino wool and cashmere yarns in saturated greens and bold navy” – being similarly “absorbed” into the fabric of people’s lives. “Whether you throw a blanket on your bed or a sofa, it’s not so much about it going with something, but rather it being an object to keep, treasure and pass on,” he says. “I’m really intrigued by things that have a permanence about them.”

This ethos dictates much of Moralıoğlu’s own interiors aesthetic, both at home and in his studio: “Having pieces that really speak to you and what those special pieces say.” He loves to look for treasured items that have a longevity to them, and anticipates that moment of a delivery: “Ooh, is it what I imagined, or not what I imagined?”

So does he think that his design process for the realm of Lifestyle is very different to that of his clothing collections? “One informs the other, and they both can play off each other in an interesting way,” he considers. “Lifestyle has always been something I’ve been intrigued by – whether it’s wallpaper or porcelain or a beautiful blanket.”

The planning starts from the same place, he says – with the concept of the Erdem woman: “I think it’s always been that idea of her, what she lives with and what she wants.” Art and storytelling provide much of his creative inspiration, while different places are used to inform his ideas – “by being in a space that evokes a feeling”.

While the designer has had much to celebrate recently, the global health crisis has meant an enforced pause and a change of pace and process – as is the case for the majority of businesses and industries.

“It’s been interesting. You know, there are bad days and good days,” he reflects on doing fittings over Zoom and samples being made by seamstresses working from home. “Everything has become a whole new way of working.” The team kept up a rhythm, though, speaking every day at 9.30am to preserve some kind of regularity.

On a personal level, the designer found himself waking up very early each morning and starting the day with a book. “I’ve kept that going – waking up at 6 or 6.30am and reading for the first hour of the day.”

It was actually while doing this that he found the inspiration for his SS21 collection, having read Susan Sontag’s The Volcano Lover, a historical novel about the beautiful and enchanting Emma Hamilton, who married a vulcanologist and antiquarian, and was the famed lover of Lord Nelson.

Moralıoğlu is always looking for a narrative to “propel me in my work”. His FW20 collection was inspired by Cecil Beaton, for which the designer spent time at the National Portrait Gallery collaborating with curator Robin Muir, of Cecil Beaton’s Bright Young Things exhibition. Research for SS21 was a more solitary activity, of course, but “just as immersive,” he says. “You have to find inspiration in a different way, but it’s still kind of the same internal process.”

Now, though, the designer is focusing on the practical elements of design when it comes to his own life. “We’re moving house this month, so I’m really just looking at key things, like a sofa; we’re going back to basics.”

And when he’s in, Moralıoğlu knows just how he wants to spend the coming winter months: “Wrapped up in one of my blankets!” he laughs.