Velvet ballgowns and Elvis slippers: Deborah Mitford’s inimitable style comes to Chatsworth
Fashion exhibitions have become big business. The V&A’s blockbuster Dior and Chanel shows pulled in more than a million visitors between them.
The former alone generated around ￡9 million in admission fees, bringing new audiences to the world’s greatest arts and crafts museum.
For the institutions, this is an opportunity to reach new audiences. For fashion brands, the reputational rewards can be tremendous. But exhibitions don’t come cheap.
Both Chanel’s and Dior’s cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to mount and promote.
All this makes what Erdem Moragliolu has pulled off at Chatsworth (and the opening dinner, attended by Keira Knightley – who played Georgiana, first wife of the 5th Duke of Devonshire in The Duchess – Jenna Coleman and more) doubly impressive.
The London-based, Turkish-Canadian, 100 per cent Anglophile, Erdem – whose eponymous label is a tiny fraction of the size of Dior or Chanel – has just opened an exhibition in a suite of guest bedrooms at Chatsworth, including one where Mary Queen of Scots was intermittently “incarcerated” until 1584.
It’s a must-see for anyone interested in the process of design and the interplay between designers and the women who wear them, as well as fans of beautiful clothing.
There’s also Chatsworth itself. Right now, with its stupendous herbaceous borders in full bloom and its rolling hills (thank you, Capability Brown) at their most gorgeous, it’s hard to imagine anywhere lovelier.
As for the interiors, there are sumptuous furnishings – plus Sargents, Gainsboroughs, Raphaels, Rembrandts, Freuds and some seriously good modern art. The main problem for a fashion designer is how their clothes can compete.
But if ever a collection was made for Chatsworth, it’s the one on display here. Erdem has long been obsessed with the 126-roomed house, which dates back to the 16th century and its inhabitants.
He has dressed Laura Cavendish, Countess of Burlington, whose husband William is heir to Chatsworth, for years.
The ethereal Countess first discovered Erdem when she was a buyer working for Bluebird, the cult fashion emporium on London’s Kings Road.
The relationship blossomed when she came to his first show in 2005 which was, naturally, at the V&A.
Fred Astaire’s sister Adele, who married Charles Cavendish, the second son of the 9th Duke of Devonshire (owner of Chatsworth) inspired his Winter 2018 collection.
He’s equally passionate about Deborah, the 11th Duchess of Devonshire to whom he dedicated his Spring Summer 2024 collection, complete with cropped flared jackets made from faded copies of Chatsworth floral chintz, deconstructed ball dresses that elegantly put the once internal structure of 1950s tailoring on display and slim sheath dresses decorated with prints of Chatsworth.
Deborah (or Debo, as she was known) was the youngest of the famous Mitford sisters and shared her big sister Nancy’s wit and love of clothes.
She was also a savvy businesswoman who helped turn around the fortunes of Chatsworth, saving it from the post-war fate of many of England’s statelies after she and her husband Andrew Cavendish inherited it in 1950.
Erdem never met her, but her brains and classic British style are clearly on display here with some of her original wardrobe favourites – velvet and taffeta ballgowns, tweed skirts, twinsets and a pair of velvet slippers embossed with Elvis’s face – juxtaposed with his interpretations.
It’s a fascinating insight into the interplay of history and current fashion. But much as he loves immersing himself in the archives, Erdem is always thinking of a modern woman. His clothes can command a room, but they’re not theatrical.
“I always like to know where the woman who buys my clothes might wear something. Whether I’m designing a tulle ballgown or the plainest navy jacket, the process is the same, and just as thrilling when it comes off.”
Far from being dwarfed by their surroundings, Erdem’s pieces, including a dress embroidered by Cecily Lasnet – daughter of the late model Stella Tennant who was one of Debo’s granddaughters – more than hold their own. The black velvet off-the-shoulder dress stands next to a photo of Debo in an almost identical black velvet bodice version, which she wore with some of her beloved jewelled insect brooches. 200-year-old curtains are swathed over similarly patterned dresses. Elsewhere, we glimpse one of Debo’s original pink ballgowns through the drapes of a four-poster.
There’s a two-piece floral Barbour (Debo loved her old Barbours), embroidered knitted cardigan-jackets and interpretations of the 1940s “New Look” jackets Debo loved – Uma Thurman wore one of Erdem’s embroidered white ones from this collection to the Cannes film festival in May.
A recording of the Duchess’s voice, which was part of the soundtrack to the catwalk show of this collection, plays in one of the rooms. A hallway is smothered with framed photos of Debo – on her wedding day, at balls, with her chickens, another room houses Erdem’s meticulous sketches next to swatches and trims.
It will have cost Erdem very little, if anything to put on, having largely been sponsored by farfetch.com, the online e-tailer. It’s a triumph for all concerned.
Imaginary Conversations: An Erdem collection inspired by Duchess Deborah runs until 20 October 2024 at Chatsworth. Admission is included with all garden and house tickets.
