jonathan saunders

Erdem seems to be etched onto my subconscious at the moment and I reckon it’s a sign from fashion gods to go forth and take my love of floral dresses to the next level.

I love the fashion warrior look, with the studs, spikes, chains and whatnot, but I always seem to drift back into floral tea dress/grunge territory.  It takes a special kind of girl to rock a floral dress, patterned or embellished – see floral fans Helena Christensen, Chloë Sevigny, Eva Green and Erdem girls Keira Knightley and Thandie Newton for reference.

Thanie Newton wearing Erdem

It’s all about picking interesting colours, an attractive pattern and the right shape and hem length (oh, and a statement lip colour always helps).  But enough fashion rambling and on to the real crux of the matter…Erdem is bring fashion to the people!

Erdem is the latest designer to show his favourite pieces in a series of catwalks shows, as the focus of the V&A’s Fashion In Motion. This year’s Fashion In Motion events have already seen Giles Deacon and Stephen Jones present their catwalk collections to the public and the initiative has been running for an impressive ten years.

Erdem showed his first collection at the V&A and it is a perfectly timed collaboration, as they unveil their new major exhibition, Decode: Digital Design Sensations.

Erdem has been one of the first new British designers to use technology to his own advantage, incorporating digital printing (pioneered by Basso & Brooke in 2004), which has also been adopted by Marios Schwab, Mary Katranzou and William Tempest.  The results are crystal clear precision and a vibrant, more eye-catching effect.  It is also a more economical technique, as there is no minimum printing run to break even, and the big fashion houses are now catching on to the trend.

The popularity of Erdem’s collections lie in him creating a number of different silhouettes, meaning there is an Erdem look for every shape.  Everything is extremely wearable, with Jonathan Saunders-style panelling to complement curves and no unnecessary cut-out detailing or low-fastening.

Erdem has been compared to Christian Lacroix many times and his pieces described as ‘semi-couture’, but there is none of the old-world gaudiness, as Erdem looks towards the fashion of the future.

But while Erdem is one of the main east London players (he’s a fellow Hackney lad), he has further strengthened his more conventional links and collaborated with Bond Street stationers Smythson on a covetable, limited edition range of diaries and notebooks.

The diaries feature whimsical colour block line drawings engraved and printed on goat-skin leather. There are also a range of notebooks that are covered in Erdem’s signature floral prints with added flower motifs and dashes of gold.  All books and diaries are lined with beautiful silk from Erdem’s resort 2010 collection and two pages of illustrations.  Prices start at an eye-watering £115 for the Panama Diary, but my guess is that you’ll carry it around with you everywhere and will thus be more organised than ever!

Admission to Fashion In Motion at the V&A is free but booking is essential
Tickets will be available from Monday 30 November
To book call +44 (0)20 7942 2820£115