The Well Of Loneliness, a novel first published in 1928 and then banned that same year, told the story of Stephen Gordon—a woman living as a man—and her relationship with Mary Llewellyn. Its author, an openly gay woman named Radclyffe Hall, gave voice to the love between two biological females at a time when its existence was completely denied.
For Spring/Summer 2025, Erdem deftly paid homage to the characters and themes in Radclyffe’s book. No sooner than the first and second looks did we see the exploration into the push and pull of masculine and feminine dressing: a double- breasted tailored blazer in a navy pinstripe wool and with pleated front trousers was followed by a slip dress with a flounced hem in spearmint tulle and embellished with hanging crystal strands. Elsewhere, masculine suits popped up in dusky pink and celery green. Men’s cardigans were worn over tea dresses and dainty slips over trousers.
Highlights included a spliced cardigan in camel wool and with broken crystal embellishments which were styled with a cropped poplin shirt and blush pink satin cami shorts, and a lingerie slip dress in black voile and lace worn with a bralette and a slip skirt in blush pink lace.
Poignantly, the designer was inspired by a particular scene in Radclyffe’s pages where Stephen is fitted for a suit on Savile Row—a moment of awakening for the character. As a nod to this, Erdem commissioned certain looks to be handmade in collaboration with Savile Row tailors Edward Sexton.
“How we choose to identify and who we choose to love are questions we have been asking ourselves since the dawn of humanity,” read the show notes. “We stand on the shoulders of figures such as Hall to be able to respond today that beauty and power lie not in conforming to social constructs, but in celebrating individual self-expression.”
Needless to say, The Well Of Loneliness is now a relevant, lauded queer tract of self-expression, discovery and love.
Watch the full Erdem Spring/Summer 2025 show below. You can purchase a copy of The Well Of Loneliness here.
