Erdem’s Debut Menswear Collection Is, in Fact, Genderless

Erdem has been synonymous with feminine luxury since the Turkish-British designer Erdem Moralioglu debuted his first collection in 2005. The brand is a favorite of Kirsten Dunst, Madonna, and Kate Middleton, all of whom have worn its signature floral prints on red carpets and, in the Duchess of Cambridge’s case, during a visit with Prince William to London’s Kew Gardens last month. Now, Moralioglu is branching out into menswear for the first time—although the designer is quick to make the distinction that, really, people of any gender can put on this new collection. “The boundaries between womenswear and menswear are evermore fluid—and exciting,” he says, noting that he and his twin sister swapped clothing all the time as children.

For his first foray into clothing that skews toward menswear, Moralioglu has created a collection rooted in English heritage: Think boiler suits, mohair sweaters, striped cardigans, button-down shirts with Mandarin collars, and knitted tank tops. For the line’s lookbooks, each piece was photographed West Wittering Beach—where the colorful vests and velvet corduroy slacks stand in stark contrast to the gray English sky. Moralioglu himself was, naturally, on set for the shoot, and snapped some photographs with a camera of his own behind the scenes that he shared with W.

The designer chose the chilly beach as the venue for the shoot after reading stacks of books by the English director Derek Jarman during lockdown—one of which was Modern Nature, a series of journal entries about Jarman’s love of gardening and flowers, which he wrote while he became sick with AIDS. “I was fascinated by his home in Dungeness,” Moralioglu tells W. “I actually went to visit it, it’s on the beach and the moody sky became the inspiration for the shoot.”

“Despite shooting in June, it was a very cold day,” he adds. What’s more British than that?