The 1920s lesbian author who inspired Erdem’s latest fashion show

Why are some designers perpetually in search of a character to hang their next collection on? Because “creating a narrative” can add richness and depth to a show that, in a best case scenario, makes itself felt all the way through to the finished clothes hanging on the rail in a store somewhere in the world, or on some website. This is a process that can help a dress or a jacket, or whatever, become far more than something that fits and flatters. 

This is the Erdem way. In Erdem Moralıoğlu’s last collection, Maria Callas’s tragic aura infused 1950s silhouettes with soul. Before that, Debo Devonshire inspired him to give his beloved florals a faded wash that made them look mistily romantic. For spring 2025, he has just spent the past few months living in a world peopled by 1920s lesbians – most notably Radclyffe Hall, the notorious author of the even more notorious 1928 lesbian novel, The Well of Loneliness. (I also spotted a picture of Oscar Wilde on his mood board backstage – gay authors have long stood out as well dressed). 

Radclyffe, born Marguerite, but later known as John, is a gift for any designer seeking to pep up their tailoring, since she embraced all the Savile Row trends of the day: immaculate white dress shirts, pins and cufflinks, three-piece suits, bow ties, homburgs and brogues. The Well of Loneliness was banned for obscenity in 1928 and would not be published again in England until 1949. But Radclyffe and Una, Lady Troubridge, lived relatively openly together until Radclyffe’s death in 1943.