“The biggest compliment is seeing someone walking down the street in something I’ve made,” says designer Erdem Moralioglu to a gathering of journalists. The designer is seated in H&M’s sunlit showroom in West Hollywood with every piece from his soon-to-debut collaboration hanging behind him. “To me it’s much more surprising than seeing it on a red carpet,” he continues. Come November third, the global launch date for the line, Moralioglu is going to see many more people on the streets wearing silk pyjama sets, tweed blazers and tea-length dresses covered in brooding floral prints. Here’s what else the designer had to say about the collection, from tackling menswear for the first time, to his enduring fascination with femininity. 

ON NEW IDEAS

There’s for sure an exploration of thinking about my woman in lots of different contexts. There was something that felt kind of modern and easy about it. I went to places where i haven’t necessarily gone. It was important that the collaboration felt like a new body of work

ON ADAPTING HIS SIGNATURE LOOK

It was really interesting to explore my aesthetic in the context of designing ERDEM x H&M. When I’m designing my catwalk collections I construct a whole narrative about the woman, thinking about who she is, what’s happened to her, what’s about to happen to her. For ERDEM x H&M, the narrative was much more open, and I was thinking about a group of friends in an English country house, mixing together their wardrobe and wearing it in their own way. The idea of boys wearing girls’ clothes, girls wearing boys’ clothes, this kind of odd exchange. It was interesting, the menswear had a big influence on the womenswear. There was a broad English-ness that I wanted to capture. I found myself thinking about my sister and my parents, how my sister dressed in high school and my mom in the sixties and how my father would dress. It something that felt very personal, usually my work has to do with a narrative that’s quite far removed. 

ON THE ABUNDANCE OF FLORAL MOTIFS

My thinking with flowers has always been about the feminine. I’m fascinated by things that imply femininity, whether it be lace or flowers or a certain silhouette.

 

ON THE GREATEST TAKEAWAY

It was really important to me that there was absolutely no compromise. With everything I create, I’m determined for it to be the most beautiful piece. We worked really hard to perfect each piece. Working with them it was an amazing dance, we really pushed each other with getting the mills that I work with for my main line and really pushing for how things were made and finished. It was very fascinating and collaborative. When we make clothes, we literally turn them inside out to make sure everything is perfect. There’s nothing that’s not considered. I also wanted to do something that was the opposite of fast fashion, that you could hold on to forever.