Imaginary Conversations will be a new exhibition this summer at one of Britain’s best-known stately homes, Chatsworth, and it celebrates the image and legacy of the late dowager Duchess Deborah Devonshire as well as the Devonshire Collections through the SS24 collection of Erdem Moralioglu. 

The exhibition “explores the house as a source of inspiration in dialogue with Erdem’s collection”, which was famously dedicated to and inspired by the Duchess. Visitors are “welcomed into Duchess Deborah’s world while understanding how the past informs the present in the process of creating a contemporary fashion collection”. 

The exhibition runs from 21 June to 20 October.

Erdem is known for his often grand ballgowns and more formal daywear of the type that the Duchess may well have worn in her heyday as a style leader from the 1940s onwards. 

The exhibition takes a journey through the Regency Guest Bedrooms at her home, Chatsworth, and “brings to life Erdem’s process, showcasing the inspiration, craft and tools involved in translating the life and legacy of an individual subject into a fully realised fashion collection”. 

As the exhibition title suggests, “the process is much like a dialogue; stories are woven back-and-forth between protagonist and designer. The result is a collection inspired by Duchess Deborah’s personality, values and passions, as much as her wardrobe”.

See catwalk

It’s certainly a one-of-a-kind event with Erdem having been given permission by Chatsworth House Trust (the charity that looks after the house, garden and collections), as well as the Devonshire family to dedicate his SS24 collection to Duchess Deborah.

That also meant he was allowed access to the extensive archives for research and development. It results in archival fabrics from the collection including historic curtains that once hung within Chatsworth being repurposed and reimagined into the collection. 

The result is an event that we’re told “gives us a remarkable insight into Duchess Deborah’s life and Erdem’s design process simultaneously”.

The particular location of the exhibition also means it’s likely to be more than just a regular museum-type show. For instance, the Leicester Bedroom “is a dramatic combination of large swathes of draped textiles from the Devonshire archive set amongst mannequins wearing pieces from Erdem’s collection featuring the archival curtain material. The interplay of textiles gives the impression that the garments are emerging from the very fabric of the building itself”. 

And in the Wellington Dressing Room next door, visitors’ attention will be “drawn to a single exhibit in a case by the Polonaise bed, Duchess Deborah’s legendary, cherished Elvis slippers”.

Plus, at various junctures throughout the exhibition, large-scale projections play the SS24 Erdem catwalk show, “immersing visitors into the heart of the live experience, and bringing the fashion show to its spiritual home”.

Erdem said he’d “always wanted to create a collection on Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire and the history of Chatsworth. I have long been fascinated by her story and found the archives at Chatsworth to be endlessly inspiring”.