2011 S/S Erdem

Erdem

LONDON, September 20, 2010

Erdem Moralioglu

Erdem Moralioglu had a dream summer at the side of Jane Pritchard while she was co-curating the Victoria & Albert Museum'sDiaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, 1909-1929 exhibition, which opens this week. He got to indulge his nosiness: unraveling, turning everything inside out, touching—gasp!—stuff that had actually been worn by Nijinsky himself. What stayed with Moralioglu was a vision of the costumes on their racks, carefully covered with calico, "like ghosts," the designer said.

The experience was so inspiring that it shaped the substance of his Spring collection (and the sound of his show—the music was from the ballet Petrouchka, one of Nijinsky's triumphs). The structure and flou of ballet costumes were clearly reflected in Moralioglu's dresses, with their fitted bodices and flaring skirts. A harlequin pattern the designer found on the racks shaped the patchwork of a shirtdress and pants, the latter paired with a blouse in an utterly ravishing poppy print, also Russian. And Nicholas Kirkwood's gorgeous shoes tied up the calf like ballet slippers.