Erdem Moralıoğlu

Erdem Moralıoğlu (born November 1977) is a Creative Director and founder of eponymous London-based fashion label Erdem, which he established in 2005.

Erdem Moralıoğlu MBE
Moralıoğlu portrait, 2019
Born	November 1977 Montreal, Canada
Nationality	British
Education	Marianopolis College
Alma mater	Toronto Metropolitan University Royal College of Arts
Occupation	Fashion designer
Years active	2005 - present
Organization	ERDEM London
Website	https://erdem.com/

Early life and education

Moralıoğlu was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to a Turkish father, Erkal who was a chemical engineer and an English mother, Marlene Dawn (nee Jeavons) who worked as a secretary. His parents met whilst working together in Geneva and his mother grew up between Montreal and Birmingham, England.^[1][2][3]

A graduate of Marianopolis College, Moralıoğlu earned a BA in fashion from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University) in Toronto, Canada and then worked as an intern for Vivienne Westwood. He moved to London in 2000 to study fashion at the Royal College of Art on a Chevening Scholarship.^[4]

Career

Moralıoğlu moved to New York before relocating back to London to launch his own label, ERDEM, in 2005.^[5]

In 2017, ERDEM collaborated with H&M, Moralıoğlu’s first collection for men; director Baz Luhrmann created the visuals for the campaign.^[6]

In 2018, Moralıoğlu designed costumes for 24 ballet dancers performing in Christopher Wheeldon's Corybantic Games at the Royal Opera House in London.^[7]

In 2021, ERDEM expanded to designing menswear.^[8]

Recognition

In 2012, he won the 'New Establishment' award at the Fashion Awards.^[9] In 2013, he was awarded at the British Fashion Awards for 'Red Carpet Designer of the Year'.^[10]

Later, in 2014, Moralıoğlu was named the British Fashion Council’s Women’s Wear Designer of the Year.^[11] In 2017, he won International Canadian Designer of the Year at the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards.^[12]

Moralıoğlu was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to fashion.^[13]

Personal life

Moralıoğlu lives and operates a studio in Bethnal Green, east London.^[14] He has a twin sister, Sara, who makes TV documentaries about geography and natural history.^[15] Since 2018, he has been married to architect Philip Joseph.^[16] In an interview for the Cut in 2018 he revealed that he preferred pickled goods over chocolate.^[17]

His mother, Marlene passed away in 2007^[18][19] and his father, Erkal in 2001.^[1]