Yesterday, Erdem Moralioglu could be found poring over a vitrine deep in the east wing of Chatsworth House. There he was, hovering over the placement of his exactly-so finishing touches to “Imaginary Conversations,” his exhibition about Debo, Duchess of Devonshire, while showcasing the spring 2024 show spectacular he designed as a paean to her. He placed a solidly quilted floral print skirt—“probably she wore it for walking around the estate, I don’t know!”—next to a tiny yellow coin purse in the shape of a chicken. In went a pair of sensible brown walking shoes, next to a delicious pair of yellow taffeta evening shoes with bows on the toes. And as a final flourish, a red satin evening bag with Elvis picked out in diamanté.
That’s pretty much a micro-summary of the eclectic flair and character of the late Duchess Deborah—as the family calls her—right there in one cabinet. Erdem is the first researcher to be allowed into Debo’s archive since her death in 2014. She—as every fashion fanatic knows—was the Mitford sister who famously decided to marry a duke, did, and went on to effectively save Chatsworth with her entrepreneurial vim and enthusiasm for Elvis, chickens, and making friends with artists and commissioning them. One of the exhibits in the astonishing series of Chatsworth’s Regency bedrooms that Erdem’s been given the run of is Lucian Freud’s Woman in a White Shirt, his 1957 portrait of Debo. Her friendships ran from farmers to fashion designers. Delving into the archive with Susie Stokoe, Chatsworth’s Head of Textiles, Erdem discovered the straw tote bag, embroidered DEBO, that was made for her as a gift by Hubert de Givenchy.
It’s a show saturated with history, color, light, and wit—an insight into Erdem’s designing mind—and as a subtext, into the background orchestration of Laura Burlington, whose parents-in-law are the present Duke and Duchess. “Debo loved clothes and creativity,” says Laura. “When Erdem raised the idea of an exhibition, I instinctively just wasn’t sure my parents-in-law would want it. But Amanda (the Duchess of Devonshire) is an Erdem customer. She immediately said, what a great idea. I’m really not sure they’d do it for anyone else.”