LONDON — Erdem Moralioglu is opening the late Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire’s wardrobe and allowing the public a peek inside her aristocratic life.
“Imaginary Conversations” at Chatsworth House, which is located in the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire, England, runs until Oct. 20 and charts the duchess’ affection for chickens, couture, Elvis Presley and jewelry.
The London-based Canadian designer looked to Debo, as she was fondly known, for his spring 2024 collection, which in the exhibition features side by side with the duchess’ objects.
“I was writing a love letter to someone I never met, that’s what inspired the entire exhibition and its name,” said Moralioglu, who collaborated with Susie Stokoe, head of textiles at Chatsworth.
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He discovered the duchess when he was doing research at Chatsworth for his fall 2018 collection that was based on American dancer Adele Astaire, sister of Fred and widow of Lord Charles Cavendish.
Circularity, a hot word right now in fashion, is what attracted Moralioglu to dive deeper into the duchess’ life and to examine the legacy she left behind. “The idea of wanting to preserve and carry on something is what I found really inspiring,” he added.
The rooms in which the exhibition takes place have just completed a two-year conservation. In 2020, parts of Chatsworth were closed due to the heatwave that caused the hand painted wallpapers from 1790 to bubble and slip.
The exhibition opens with a picture wall of the late duchess, in some photos she sits posing for the likes of Cecil Beaton and in others, she’s holding a basket of chicken eggs, cuddling a dog on a grass field or wearing a trenchcoat with her late husband Andrew Cavendish, who became the 11th Duke of Devonshire.
The first outfit in the exhibition is a red tweed suit skirt that’s been frayed from Erdem’s spring 2024 collection. “It’s the idea that her chickens would have pecked at the hem of it,” said the designer.
Other pieces include an ink blue leather jacket and a light pink slip dress — both have been studded to imitate one of Elvis’ costumes that he wore to a Honolulu concert in the ‘70s and the star motifs that were a recurring symbol in his stage outfits.
The duality of the duchess is reiterated several times in the exhibition by Moralioglu. Her beaten down leather walking shoes are showcased next to her dress shoes, which were dyed yellow to match one of her couture dresses from Paris.
She famously loved fashion, with Lanvin, Balmain, Givenchy and Dior among her favorites.
Another room features a pink couture dress that the duchess had made by a local woman living in the village and opposite is a plinth with her velvet slippers that have Elvis’ face on them.
One of Moralioglu’s favorite parts of the exhibition is the chintz room, where the curtains match his designs that are on display. “I had this idea of how amazing it would be to make a garment out of something that had belonged to her or hung in her room,” he said.
To add an even more personal touch, the designer invited the late duchess’ great-granddaughter Cecily Lasnet (a daughter of the late Stella Tennant) to work on the embroidery.
“It goes back to circularity,” said Moralioglu.
The duchess’ love for animals extended beyond farm pets. She had an extensive jewelry collection of bugs and insect brooches that her husband would give her each year. Sometimes she would wear a singular brooch or all of them all together to make a statement. A selection of her original pieces are on display.
One of the dragonfly brooches has a very special feature: its wings flutter when someone walks by it.
The designer recreated the 19th century brooches for his spring 2024 collection, dotting them around tops, skirts and dresses.
One of the finale dresses, an off the shoulder design that’s knotted together at the arms, is an homage to the duchess’ black velvet dress that she wore for a sitting with Beaton. He added other details of her life – a chintz for the skirt and brooches of insects such as dragonflies, spiders and moths to decorate the overall look.
The last two rooms of the exhibition were where Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned in the house.
A large portrait of the duchess by the Cuban artist John Ulbricht hangs in the bedroom and the last room, Mary, Queen of Scots’ dressing room, has been transformed to imitate Moralioglu’s atelier with life-size mood boards where images of the duchess and fabric samples are pinned.
Maquettes and toile versions of the spring 2024 collection are on display to trace the journey of a collection.
The designer’s work desk has also been replicated featuring his sketches, research books, samples of brooches and tweed.
“A fashion show is a very ephemeral thing, it lasts for eight minutes. We show what we do and then move to the next thing — to have this opportunity is really interesting because everyone can maybe understand the thought process and people can maybe be dismissive about this world [of fashion], but actually its history — it’s about an archive, a family and a house,” said Moralioglu.
