Prideful Fashion

Pride is more than a celebration – it's a powerful expression of identity, resilience, and solidarity. Communities worldwide unite to honour the past, uplift the present, and fight for a more inclusive future. Now more than ever, the LGBTQ+ community needs support from their fellow and allied peers, and a new fashion drop from London-based fashion house ERDEM is making a direct effort to provide just that. Releasing a limited-edition t-shirt in time for Pride month, the proceeds from the drop will go towards several queer charities across the UK.

The brand has deep ties to the queer community, with it being founded and helmed by gay designer Erdem Moralioglu, whose work consistently draws inspiration from the wellspring of queer history. His Spring Summer 2025 collection was inspired by Radclyffe Hall’s seminal lesbian novel The Well of Lonliness, where he challenged traditional gender roles through visually contrasting masculine and feminine styling.

This commitment to combining queer history and high fashion is continued in this new design. The white unisex shirt is beautifully fashioned with light blue, pink, and white carnation flowers as a celebration of the Transgender Pride Flag; printed alongside a green carnation as an homage to the historical symbol of queer identity, popularized by iconic playwright Oscar Wilde. 

ERDEM’s t-shirt launch is in collaboration with Gay’s The Word, the oldest independent LGBTQ+ bookshop in the UK. Established in 1979, the store offers an extensive range of queer literature and has fostered a community space where all profits made are funneled directly back into the bookshop itself. Considered a touchstone and a sanctuary in London’s queer scene, Gay’s the Word’s partnership with ERDEM brings its ethos to the forefront of high-end fashion, uplifting an important perspective on LGBTQ+ rights strongly needed in this day and age.

All profits made from the shirt will go directly to two charities close to the brand’s heart: Not a Phase and akt. Founded as a response to ongoing challenges trans+ people face in the UK, Not a Phase is a grassroots charity uplifting and improving the lives of trans+ adults. Their trans-led cause aims to give a safe space for the trans+ and gender non-conforming community to thrive through awareness campaigns, social projects, and funding fellow trans+ lead initiatives.

akt is the only national charity in the UK providing active support for LGBTQ+ youth who are either at risk of or are currently experiencing homelessness. Their essential services range from providing emergency housing advice to connecting those in need with their respective communities, all of which cater to the specific needs of LGBTQ+ young people. ERDEM is taking a giant step forward to “help communities who need our support now more than ever,” as the house shared in a statement. 

This Pride, ERDEM invites you to give back to the community in a fashionable way—paying tribute to a beautiful history of queerness while adhering to the brand’s creative direction.

Retailing at £75, the t-shirt will launch June 16, exclusively at www.erdem.com, ERDEM’s London flagship store, and Gay’s The Word location in Bloomsbury. To find out more on Not A Phase and akt, visit them here and here.