ERDEM FIRST FLAGSHIP STORE IN LONDON
It has been ten years since Erdem Moralioglu founded his eponymous women’s fashion ...
September 8, 2015
It has been ten years since Erdem Moralioglu founded his eponymous women’s fashion label and the brand has recently opened his first flagship store, at 70 South Audley Street in Mayfair, London. The 2000 square-foot two-storey space brings to life not just Erdem’s collections and accessories, but the world of the female character that is his inspiration.
“The aim was to create an environment that would beautifully showcase Erdem’s designs but more than this, to build somewhere with a narrative that feels inhabited by Erdem’s imaginary muse,” architect Philip Joseph of P Joseph explains.
It has the level of quality, care and attention to detail of a domestic environment more than a retail space. The interior architecture feels permanent. The materials are rich and reassuringly solid. The lighting throughout is warm and atmospheric.
P Joseph have collaborated with a series of expert material specialists and craftsmen to achieve the level of quality that gives a feeling of solidity and timelessness. A dark veined Belgian Saint-Anne marble in harlequin formation has been used on the ground floor, which feels both refined and playful. The walls are painted in a soft bone china color creating the feeling of being wrapped in a cool, rich atmosphere, softened by brass detailing on the door surrounds, freestanding mirrors, the feet of the clothing rails and necks of the hangers.
The Erdem flagship store is curated with a selection of paintings and books from the designer’s private collection including art by Andy Warhol, David Hockey and Jean Cocteau. Details like the diamond-shaped brass doorknobs that reference the harlequin flooring add a depth of character.
The marble flooring carries on down the curved staircase, ending in a thud at the bottom with two solid blocks for the final two steps. A custom-designed conversation sofa anchors the room, which looks onto a light well, filled with dense ferns. Even the dressing rooms feel ethereally inhabited, with a planted marble ledge and dappled light filtering in through the cast-iron pavement lights at street level above.
