Bright young thing: Ed Marler

Taken from the January issue of Dazed & Confused:

For Edward Marler, dressing up is a way of life. There’s no such thing as looking glam for a hot date; in Marler’s world, every moment is sparkle-worthy. The Central Saint Martins graduate’s final collection was an opulent mish-mash of rags-to-riches royal drag. It’s a do-it-yourself Cinderella, ditching the Fairy Godmother for a wardrobe less ordinary. 

“My collection was about a girl or boy who has these delusions of grandeur,” Marler explains. “Although they might live in a scruffy flat and lead an ordinary life, they want to feel like a princess.” The designer used denim, fur, homemade knits, leopard satin sheets and lace curtains to piece together his dream in the form of dresses, tunics, capes and fishtail pants. Football shirts made up a gown, a sweetheart neckline of knitted bandanas was layered over a tee and crowns were moulded from pieces of furniture. 

On an average day you’re likely to find Marler traipsing Dalston in similar threads, rocking Galliano newsprint, Dior monkey fur, football tees as skirts and leopard boxer shorts. “I just like the fact that the way you dress completely changes people’s opinion of you. It  can make you fit in or it can make you different from everyone else. I’m not clever academically or really good-looking so I use clothes instead.”

Marler, who hails from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, says he was fascinated by style from an early age – his fashion illustrations date back to the age of six, when “my mum would ask me to draw her outfit to go play darts, that kinda thing.” Hence Marler’s down-to-earth attitude towards fashion, a trait he shares with Louise Gray, whom he assisted during his final year of studies. Though his collection takes few cues from Gray’s own work, he learned from her to reject being or designing “something you are not.” 

Though he knows it will be a long road, Marler is determined to show a collection come February 2014. With drive and an imagination that can turn glitter to gold, there’s no doubt he has bright things coming his way.