“In my show notes for this collection, I have an image of Kim Novak in Vertigo,” said London-based designer Erdem Moralioglu in San Francisco. “The collection [nods to] San Francisco, even though I had no idea [while creating it] that I was going to be here!” The designer showed his fall 2015 collection at Pier 27 as part of the San Francisco Opera Guild and Saks Fifth Avenue‘s fundraiser called Fashion Forward: An Evening with Erdem, on Wednesday, March 25. This was the designer’s first runway show staged in the Bay Area, and guests including Vanessa Getty, Connie Nielsen, Komal Shah, Jean Larette, Stephanie Marver, Deepa Pakianathan, and Wilkes Bashford got a look at the collection first shown weeks ago in London during fashion week there. “It was such a different kind of setting,” said the designer. “[In London] it was all about this really odd, immersive set; the environment as an expression of character. [Last night] it was so nice to have a clean runway that could show the clothes in a more straightforward way.”

Ideas derived from some of Erdem’s favorite muses including actress Romy Schnieder and Audrey Hepburn’s Wait Until Dark character, Susy Hendrix, were visible in looks comprised of metallic jacquards, bold jewel tones, and sophisticated needle punch techniques. “[Each season] it’s almost like the chapters in a book,” says Moralioglu of the enigmatic muses who inspire him. “Where she goes next is a result of where she’s been,” he says. “I’ve always been fascinated with these kinds of codes of femininity.”

By Jennifer McCullum

Pictured: Erdem Moralioglu in San Francisco at his Pier 27 fashion presentation put together by Saks Fifth Avenue and the San Francisco Opera Guild.
Photo By: Drew Altizer