For the Resort 2026 collection, Erdem has delved into the pioneering work of Maria Sibylla Merian, the 17th Century German entomologist and botanical illustrator.

17th Century Dutch details are juxtaposed with modern elements that feel confidently feminine and romantic. Lace is used with great effect, echoing the Calvinist collars of the era. Here it is subverted, playing with scale to become more like capes than collars, or gathered and draped into dresses and elsewhere used to embroider suits with sharper silhouettes.

17th Century necklines lend an elegant primness to velvet cocktail dresses. Strict white shirts with cotton detailing belong in the paintings of Dutch Masters, imbued with a certain modernity too.

Merian’s botanical and insect illustrations recur in different treatments – embroidered, printed, etched, in different scales and color combinations. They bring their own moods to different looks: a graphic edge when etched on a motorcycle jacket and leather skirt; smaller embellishments to knitwear have a feminine gentility; over-sized almost sculptural appliques on gowns and coats feel dramatic and romantic simultaneously. Draped dresses bear literal text and illustrations from Merian’s books, as if she is wearing their very pages.

A sense of metamorphosis underpins the collection; it is as if we are watching her transform and emerge before our eyes.