'Aurelio' dress, Erdem, Spring-Summer 2022. Jacquard-woven cotton-linen long gown with ruffled train and puff sleeves.

Short-sleeved full-length gown with stand collar, puffed sleeves with tie fastenings, and a tiered, ruffled skirt which falls to an asymmetric hem with a train detail. The fabric is chiné jacquard woven cotton/linen mix with lining of silk crêpe de chine. Floral print on a white ground.

The ERDEM SS 2022 collection, designed by Erdem Morialoglu, drew on a wide range of printed fabrics whose popularity originated with the fashions of Marie-Antoinette's court - glazed/calendered cottons and linens, chintzes and indiennes style prints as well as en camaïeux toile de Jouy fabrics. All of these were used in both fashion and interiors during the queen's reign, e.g., the fine printed Perse cottons used in her rooms at the Petit Trianon and the toile de Jouy used to decorate her boudoir in the main palace of Versailles.

The collection strove for a 'wistful glamour and elegant insouciance', taking inspiration from 'extraordinary and timeless women', such as salon hostess, Ottoline Morrell, who owned a pearl necklace that was reputed to have belonged to Marie-Antoinette. Throughout the collection, and with the gown in question, the designer used Edwardian-style patterns and fabrics that revive late 18th-century sources.

The gown is the standout ensemble from a critically acclaimed collection - Vogue described the collection as 'momentous'; WWD called it 'dreamy'. The floral print fabric evokes the 19th-century-style 'chintzes' that were part of the prevailing 'French' style and fuses these with elements of 18th-century dress construction: the box pleats, the tiered skirt and ruffled train are all hallmarks of the robe à la française.

T.121-2022