LONDON.- This Spring, the worlds of fashion and art will collide as Sotheby’s opens up its galleries to Erdem, inviting the world-leading fashion designer to guest-curate a sale of contemporary art in London.

Known for his use of experimental textiles, vibrant prints, and exquisite craftsmanship, Erdem’s eponymous brand has received numerous accolades over the years, including the 2010 inaugural Vogue / British Fashion Council Designer Fashion Fund Award, the 2014 British Fashion Council’s Womenswear Designer of the Year Award and most recently the 2015 British Fashion Council’s Establishment Designer Award.

Delving into Sotheby’s art stores, Erdem has hand-picked works that inspire him most as both a designer and art-collector from Sotheby’s 15 March “Contemporary Curated” sale in London. Alongside artworks by the most important Contemporary artists such as Yayoi Kusama and Antony Gormley, Erdem’s selection spans 50 years of artistic production including ground-breaking photography, Abstraction and American figurative painting.

Francis Bacon once said that ‘fashion is…the attempt to realise art in living forms and social intercourse’ – encapsulating the long-standing relationship between the creativity of artists and designers. Breaking the ground for the future role of art in fashion were moments such as Salvador Dali’s whimsical collaboration with Elsa Schiaparelli, which resulted in the iconic lobster gown and Yves Saint Laurent’s collection of acclaimed Mondrian shift dresses. In the 1960s, Andy Warhol irrevocably united fashion with artistic self-expression, culminating in the launch of his magazine Interview, in which there was never a demarcation between the two. Since then, brands from Louis Vuitton to Prada, Chanel to Alexander McQueen, have immersed themselves in the world of art – with countless collaborations and meetings of minds, catwalk performance shows and even museum openings.

“Art has always been a huge part of my life, and has often been a catalyst for my work. I first started collecting around seven years ago, and it’s become something of an addiction. All of the pieces I’ve selected for this sale, in some shape or form, have a very human hand to them. It’s this wonderful kind of humanness that attracts me. It’s been fascinating to work behind-the-scenes at Sotheby’s, from seeing the pieces for the very first time to getting to grips with the body of work in front of me. It’s an amazing learning curve.” -Erdem Moralioglu

Comprising 205 works in total, the “Contemporary Curated” sale is expected to realise between £2.5 and £3.5 million.

The pre-sale exhibition, also guest-curated by Erdem, will be open to the public from 11 March – 14 March.