Last nights Australian launch of H&M’s latest collaboration with London based designer ERDEM, was a setup nothing short of an elaborate Garden of Eden. Walking up the into the venue space, you’re greeted by flower-lined stairs and arches of floral arrangements, a ‘small hint’ on the direction of the new collection.
I was fortunate to be invited along to see the new range along with viewing a portion of the collection which was on display in an exclusive pop-up shop onsite. With flower dressed cocktails and canapés, lounges cocooned by floral bouquets, and a live DJ filling the room with tunes, the styling and set up of the event was incredible.
The range on display was pretty cool which included textured tweed suiting, a floral printed bomber, shirting and trousers in a relaxed pyjama style cut, oversized pocket squares and a navy windowpane wool blend suit.
Even though there wasn’t a runway show to be able to take some more pics and catch a little extra of the collection, I’ve included a few pics below on what to expect and what will hit the stores in coming weeks. Price points sit around $270 AUD for jackets, $120 AUD for pants and $450 AUD for coats. The range also includes sneakers, tees, socks, and jumpers.
Erdem Moralioglu (Erdem) has been know for high-end creations of trademark floral prints in his women’s collections, this was the first men’s range ever produced by the designer. “It was definitely a very personal process. I found these photos of my dad from the Sixties in these beautiful knit suits that were kind of shrunken, with short sleeves and straight leg trousers. Also me growing up with in Canada, wearing a fleece but underneath a tailored jacket because that’s what I did at school. And I wanted it to feel very English, so I also thought of men like David Hockney and Cecil Beaton and how they wore clothes” said Erdem.
When asked about the challenges in creating his first men’s collection, Edrem said “my initial thoughts were ‘how am I going to do this?’ and ‘what is it going to look like?’. Strangely, I was inspired by the music video for “Being Boring” by the Pet Shop Boys, directed by Bruce Webber. It came out in the Nineties and it’s all about these young people inhabiting this big country house: boys in tuxedos, girls in bias-cut dresses and sneakers, and this wonderful casual-meets-formal vibe, like something out of Tatler in the Eighties. I was also thinking about myself and what I’d like to wear, for the first time since I started my label 12 years ago. What do I want? What do I go to buy, but can’t? I found myself fitting Taylor, our fit model, then take it off him and slip it on myself to understand how it was all fitting – and whether it was right. Then I started taking pieces from the women’s collection and putting it on the men, and vice versa.”
When it came to developing the campaign for the collection, our own Aussie and Oscar-winning film director Baz Luhrmann got the call and executed a film like ad of cinematic proportions. Creating a short film exclusively for ERDEM x H&M titled “The Secret Life of Flowers”, the grand countryside mansion was filled with wildflowers. “I wanted the film to be like a whole movie. It’s a very modern love story, set in a country house that is full of its own secrets and it’s like a metaphor for our times – it’s harsh out there in the world, but in here, the things that really matter keep growing in an eternal spring,” said Baz Luhrmann.
The collection arrives in store from November 2nd, but to see more head to hm.com/au.
Stay dapper gents.
Robbie – Dapper Lounge
THE MAKING OF “THE SECRET LIFE OF FLOWERS”
Go behind the scenes for ERDEM x H&M’s film created by Baz Luhrmann.
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