Inside Erdem’s new exhibition at Chatsworth
In a serendipitous moment of pathetic fallacy, the sun was shining in the heart of England yesterday, as the designer Erdem Moralıoğlu played exhibition guide ahead of the opening of his show, Imaginary Conversations, at Chatsworth. The sunshine was particularly poignant as the exhibition showcases the making of his spring/summer 2024 collection, which took the house’s former chatelaine, the Duchess of Devonshire, as its muse. What’s more, you couldn’t get a more idyllic English countryside figure than Debo, as she was known, who despite living in splendour preferred seeing to the hens and listening to Elvis Presley records. It’s this curious mix of tastes that informs Erdem’s collection, which features dresses inspired by Elvis’ white rhinestone jumpsuits alongside Barbours with an opera coat silhouette.
It was a fascination with Debo’s aunt, Adele Astaire, that first led Erdem to her. In 2018, his autumn/winter collection was inspired by the famous American dancer turned English aristocrat who married Lord Charles Cavendish, and spent hours in the archives with Susie Stokoe, Chatsworth’s head of textiles. After seeing the vast array of curtains, bed linens and garments being lovingly cared for here, not to mention learning more of Debo’s personality, he decided to work on a collection that would not only pay homage to the youngest Mitford sister, but also utilise some of the heritage fabrics too. “There was always this seed that I was going to come back to create a collection about Debo,” he explains. “In the process of creating it, it truly became an imaginary conversation between me and a muse I’d never met. What you see in the exhibition is not an exact portrait of someone, but someone through a lens.”
Set in a series of rooms at Chatsworth, the exhibition offers insight into not only who Debo was, but also how she inspired the collection. Born the youngest of the famous six Mitford sisters, she married Andrew Cavendish, the future Duke of Devonshire, in 1941, with the couple remaining together until his death in 2004. Her arrival at the house spearheaded its survival (many grand estates were suffering post World War II) as she set about maintaining its upkeep via guided tours for the public and a revolutionary new farm shop, which sold produce grown or reared on the estate. Yet she was an extraordinarily complex character, both duchess and country girl, art connoisseur (the house’s vast collection today owes much to her) and consummate hostess. “In many ways she was quite contradictory, she was a forward-facing duchess, but she also was very much as happy tending to the chickens as she was hosting the president,” Erdem shares.
Erdem hit on this complexity in his spring/summer 2024 collection, which is represented in the exhibition via a series of key looks. One dress features a frayed, unfinished seam, so that it looks as though it was “ravaged by chickens”. Another look comprises a full skirt with a print of Chatsworth on it, paired with a black bralette top emblazoned with insect brooches, in a nod to the Duke of Devonshire’s annual wedding anniversary gift to his wife. As a designer, Erdem explains that the first and last look of a collection are the most important, so it is only right that both are on show here. In a lovely twist of fate, Debo’s great-granddaughter, Cicely Tennant, was interning with Erdem when he was creating the collection, and she has hand-embroidered one of the dresses made from fabric that was once owned by her. It goes without saying that this is a one-off, seen in the exhibition, and very much not for sale or put into production. Other pieces made using archival fabrics have been recreated and printed, in order that they can be sold.
The final rooms offer a glimpse behind the scenes at Erdem’s process as a designer, showcasing his mood board, toiles, and even photographs of the models backstage. The exhibition closes with a dedication to all things Debo, from the monogrammed raffia bag she was gifted by Hubert de Givenchy, to her beloved chicken purse, exhibited beside a series of photographs of the duchess throughout her life, as well as a Lucien Freud portrait, on loan from elsewhere in the house.
“Imaginary Conversations” opens at Chatsworth House on 22 June and will run until 20 October.
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