A New Erdem Dress for The Duchess at Heads Together Event

Kate opted for a new dress by Erdem for today’s Heads Together engagement.

The event was at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. From Simon Perry’s People story:

At a briefing at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts on Tuesday, the royal trio outlined their plans and hopes for Heads Together, the foundation of their campaign to shine a light on mental health issues.

More from Heads Together:

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry today kicked off the next phase of Heads Together as the campaign intensifies its efforts to create millions of conversations around mental health in 2017.

Heads Together is the London Marathon Charity of the Year; the organization is fielding a team of more than 500 runners in the April 23rd race.  Below, the Duke and Duchess with Prince Harry and two Heads Together runners.

From Heads Together:

As the Charity of the Year for the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon, we want to focus on tackling stigma and changing the conversation on mental health. We want 2017 to be the year of the mental health marathon! To help get the country talking about mental health Their Royal Highnesses are opening up the Heads Together campaign to organisations to become supporters.

All three royals took to the podium at today’s function.

From The Evening Standard’s story:

Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry today united to stop people suffering in silence and urge everyone to talk about their mental health.

They called on people not to “keep quiet and carry on” – but to open up to a friend or family member about the mental challenges they face.

The royal trio spoke out about the Heads Together campaign at a briefing just metres from the Virgin Money London Marathon finish line.

Here is Kate delivering her remarks.

Long and very accomplished speech by Kate today on mental health @heads_together pic.twitter.com/ASsHkzrfgU

— Victoria Murphy (@QueenVicMirror) January 17, 2017

Back to the People story:

The marathon marks the one-year anniversary of Heads Together, and it will cap a series of events designed to foster open discussions about mental health and diminish any stigma associated with it.

Richard Palmer reports the Duke and Duchess, as well as Prince Harry, hoped to run in the Marathon and explains why they are not taking part in the race.

The royal trio would have liked to compete but it was ruled out on the grounds that policing the 26-mile course through the capital would be a security nightmare.

Another facet of the Heads Together campaign is an upcoming documentary on mental health that will air on the BBC in the run-up to the Marathon. Prince Harry, The Duchess, and the Duke are all taking part in the production. More from People:

The royal trio are set to take part in a documentary for the BBC leading up to the London Marathon in April, according to reports Friday.

The royals are working with presenter Nick Knowles, who told The Sun, “I’m working on a mental health documentary with the young royals, which should come out around the time of the marathon

Now to what Kate wore for today’s engagement.

The Duchess was in the ‘Evita’ dress from Erdem’s prefall 2016 collection. We show it below as it looked when in stock at Forward.

The dress is a classic sheath silhouette, with a fitted bodice and waist, concealed zipper and vent at the back hem.

The material makes the piece; it is matelassé, providing a textured background that adds dimension while also serving as the perfect backdrop for the multicolored flowers sprayed across the garment.

The fiber content of the dress is 87% polyester / 13% polyamide; that second textile is used in a substantial amount of athletic wear, it has the wicking characteristic that keeps moisture away from the skin. The dress is lined in 100% silk, and it was made in Portugal. Here is a closer look at the material.

Erdem describes the print as Black Lily Collage. Forward also refers to the fabric as black, but Net-a-Porter describes it as navy. Hmmmm; I shall email for clarification to see if the piece really came in two colors or if perhaps there was a typo or miscommunication. Originally priced at $1876, the dress most recently sold for $713.

Here is a bit of Erdem’s description of his pre-fall collection:

ERDEM’s Pre-Fall 2016 woman is sitting for a portrait. She is a woman who belongs to many periods. What she brings of herself to the canvas is a beguiling strength and a rogue complexity, at contrast with the fragile prettiness of her picture. But it’s in the attitude of how she wears it (and what she brings of herself) that her true beauty lies.

The designer is clearly one of the Duchess’s favorites. Here is a quick rundown of the many Erdem pieces Kate has worn: on the left you see the two dresses worn in Canada during the 2011 North American tour (l-Cecile, r-Jacquenta); the bespoke silvery-grey embroidered dress for Trooping the Colour piece 2012, the modified version of the Meryl dress worn in Singapore on the 2012 Tour; and on the far right, the Sophia dress, worn for a 2013 school visit to Manchester.

We harken back to this Vogue review of the designer’s spring 2012 collection, for it is as relevant today as it was when I first used it in a 2012 post and I believe it explains one of the reasons the Duchess is fond of the brand:

Then, of course, there is the social backdrop he completely understands. In England—and maybe in the world—there are few designers of Erdem’s generation who think about the clothes that will be appropriate for weddings, christenings, bar mitzvahs, garden parties, and formal banquets. That’s clearly why the Duchess of Cambridge, a carefully appropriate dresser, has taken to his neatly fitted, knee-length dresses with elbow-length sleeves.

Below left, we saw the first of several Allie coat appearances in Hamilton New Zealand in April of 2014; in March of 2015 Kate wore the Darla dress for a private visit to The Goring Hotel; that October we saw her step out in a tiered gown; for the annual Commonwealth Day service in 2016 the Duchess wore a bespoke grey coat; in October of last year Kate wore a pink and navy coat by the designer, and then we have today’s Evita dress.

Not shown: the custom version of the Tigan jacket worn to the Hannah Gillingham wedding in April 2012.

Kate accessorized with her trusty Mulberry Bayswater wallet clutch.

She also wore her Tod’s Leather Fringe Buckle Pumps.

She also wore her Gold Disc Button Earrings by Oscar de la Renta

Kate’s hair was down and styled in loose curls.

This was a good frock for the Duchess; the cut and color of the dress suited her well. It was a sleek, elegant look.

LINKAGE:

• The Heads Together website is here; its Facebook page is here; the charity’s Twitter feed is here, and its Instagram feed here; the full text of each royal’s remarks may be read here
• The Institute of Contemporary Arts website is here; its Facebook page is here; its Twitter feed is here and Instagram page here 
• The Virgin Money London Marathon website is here; the Facebook page is here, and Twitter feed here
• The Daily Mail’s story is here; The Evening Standard’s story about today’s event is here; Victoria Murphy’s story for The Mirror is here
• The Daily Mirror’s fashion story is here; Simon Perry’s People story is here; PopSugar’s oversized galleries are here and here