"She has a powerful voice and she uses it" - Erdem Erdem reveals how his most recent inspiration Tina Modotti, who is also a close friend of Frida Kahl, inspired his Spring/Summer 2020 collection.

After a recent trip to Mexico City, Erdem Morioglu met Tina Modotti, the early 20th century Italian photographer who inspired his latest work and who died there in 1942.

I found a collection of her photographs and became very interested in her. "The more I read about her, the more fascinated I became."

Born in 1896 in Italy, Modotti lived a life full of color and drama. She moved to San Francisco at the age of 16 and established herself in Los Angeles in the 1910s as a silent film actress. She then traveled to Mexico and became a photographer and an active communist, befriending painters Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

Morioglu Morioglu said: "I was inspired by the trajectory of her statements. From the Italian countryside to become a silent film actress, and then [to become] one of the first important female photographers and an active political activist."

The suspicious circumstances surrounding her death make her life even more interesting: "She died suddenly in the back of a taxi in Mexico in 1942; The rumor is that she was murdered because she was too politically active."

In addition to her fascinating life story, Modotti Modotti's changing aesthetic has also had an important influence on Morioglu Morioglu's spring/Summer 2020 production.

Morioglu explains: "The collection reflects that she is at a certain stage in her life. In some of these amazing shots, she's wearing a practical jumpsuit, and at other times she's wearing a traditional Mexican dress and these Victorian dresses.

This superimposed style is reflected in the silhouettes shared by this season's outfits:

"There are very voluminous tube skirts and wide, masculine pants. And then there are these girly, slim-fit jackets from the 1940s."

Although Modotti's time in Mexico was referenced by Morioglu's designs - including the bold use of color, floral embroidery and the rice-straw hat made by hat designer Noel Stewart - Morioglu Moralioglu's interest lies more in conveying her personality and her work than in a particular place.

"It definitely has more to do with how Tina is feeling than a specific geographical location," he commented.

Modotti's pragmatic style is reflected in his use of cotton this season through Morioglu Morioglu, This is a far cry from the gorgeous fabrics of Autumn/Winter 2019 inspired by Princess Orietta Pogson Doria Pamphilj.

The designer said: "For me, the difference this season is the casual style of the whole collection, although there are some gorgeous fashion designs. They all have a lightness to them."

This change is reflected in the changes to the show this season, when Morioglu Morioglu converted the National Portrait Gallery into the Grey Hotel Gardens in Holborn, London. "There's something so relaxed about having a show outside," he said of the decision.

Morioglu has an ability to highlight the stories of women who have gone unrecorded by history, from the British biologist Marianne North Mariana North in spring/summer '16 to the American dancer Adele Astaire in autumn/winter' 18.

He commented: "I have always believed in the absolute power of each woman in the stories I want to tell. I was inspired by these stories; These stories bring so much more to the table than just the clothes."

What ultimately makes Modotti the perfect inspiration for spring/summer 20 is her modernity.

"She has a powerful voice, and she uses it," Morioglu said, adding: "I can't think of anything more relevant."