Boy Wonder

Erdem Moralioglu is the latest designer to collaborate with H&M on what is certain to be a sell-out collection. Here, the designer exclusively chats about his love of florals, and dressing females the world over

- Maddison Glendinning

There are many things that we look forward to here in the Emirates Woman office: fashion week, sale season, new episodes of The Bachelor, and each November when the newest collaboration collection from H&M hits stores. Since 2004, H&M has teamed up with a top designer each year to bring his or her creations from fashion’s upper echelon to the high street, and on November 2 of this year it’s Erdem Moralioglu’s turn.

Born in Montreal, Canada, to a British mother and a Turkish father, Erdem studied fashion at college in his home country before moving to London in 2001 to attend the Royal College of Art. Fashion, he once explained to Matches, had long held his fascination. “I was preoccupied with the way women looked and their accoutrements from a very early age, like my mother’s Saint Laurent lipstick or her Guerlain Shalimar perfume. I found these codes of femininity really interesting.”

He interned for Vivienne Westwood ahead of graduating in 2003, before spending a year working as an assistant designer at Diane von Furstenberg. It was in 2005 that he started his own eponymous label, and won over the hearts (and wallets) of women worldwide. His unabashedly feminine designs transcend seasons; he creates pieces to be kept, treasured, and perhaps, passed on to future fashionphiles. His signature digital florals are dark and moody, and his silhouettes expertly fit and flatter the female form. In short, this is a man who knows how and loves to dress women. His version of femininity packs a powerful punch both in its craftsmanship and the confidence the pieces inspire within the wearer.