ERDEM Menswear SS23

Inspired by the 20th century artist-horticulturist Cedric Morris, ERDEM releases a new SS23 menswear collection with a distinctly light yet romantic aesthetic.  As a setting for the accompanying images, the British fashion designer’s chosen location is a springtime garden, presented in cinematic photographic style at Morris’ 16th century home at Benton End in Suffolk.

For the collection, creative director Erdem Moralıoğlu dreams up an artistic bohemian lifestyle. Morris and his partner Arthur Lett-Haines had their own library of garden photographs to provide the signposts for the mood on display.  In keeping with that mood, the collection itself features relaxed, natural textiles and garments – like the white corduroy and unlined linen suits with wide legs in comfortable variations of 1940s menswear silhouettes, and the matching shirts and shorts wrapped in green floral iris prints, a flower Morris’ garden was renowned for.  The collection revels in its dandyish flamboyance and individual peculiarities; indulging in blowsy bow ties, sequinned trousers and gender-neutral cuts.

There are also moments that gently mark the passage of time throughout a day: silk pyjama suits and patchwork bathrobes are included for the morning stroll in the garden, and soft mohair sweaters and Breton knits paired with linen trousers are there for the milder evenings.  Cedric Morris’ trips to teach at London’s RCA became the foundations for the collection’s embroidered cotton gabardine suit.

Arthur Lett-Haines’ signature style also makes an appearance in the cropped jackets and berets for an added eccentric charm.  This natural English spirit is further highlighted by the tweed and needlecord fabrics seen throughout, and the embroidered monogram ‘E’ seen on the jackets and tops.  Each piece is a simple combination of decorum and simplicity with an edge, and is filtered with the same delicate tact required to tend a flower garden.

Comfort, ease and style are hallmarks of the collection, and are elevated with the use of halcyon colours and floral prints.  Here we have boyish romance for Spring 2023.  True to the ERDEM philosophy of reinterpreting the culture, we have delicate shapes awash with a vivid colour palette that takes its cues from Morris’ own paintings, and memorialises for us all an idyllic, picturesque and tranquil lifestyle spent at Benton End.

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