With the recent news of her preparing to handover royal duties and a successful TV show about her life on the air, Queen Elizabeth II was bound to inspire fashion designers. Especially when the designer in question is prone to regal dress-making, to begin with. As such, Erdem Moralogliu based his SS18 collection on a visit he made to the archives at Windsor Castle, where he got to research her Majesty's past look

He stumbled upon a very interesting story about the Queen meeting Jazz artist Duke Ellington in 1958 and how he, later on, wrote a song for her. One couldn't imagine a more perfect scenario to inspire Erdem, who has carved out a niche for himself as fashion's go-to purveyor of retro romanticism.

As a result, this collection felt freer and sexier than usual (Jazz will do that to you). Slit skirts, mid-riff baring tops, metallic fringe... Erdem let loose this season. He also toned down his use of ruffles and ribbon embellishments and introduced chic tailoring as a welcome contrast to his vast array of gorgeous dresses. As a whole, this outing had more punch and attitude than previous ones.

That doesn't mean there wasn't Erdem's usual brand of exceptional dress-making to marvel at, on the contrary. 1940's silhouettes prevailed in a wide range of flowery prints, brocades and embroideries. When worn with white opera gloves these had a terrific sense of cinematic drama to them. Other show-stoppers included 50's style balloon-skirted dresses and satin silk floor-length gown with ribbon detailing at the shoulders. Eveningwear at its finest.

Words by Martin Noives