The Erdem x Universal Standard Collection Is More Than Just Inclusive Designer Clothing

“Imagine how quietly devastating it is to constantly be told I’m not allowed to participate,” Alex Waldman tells TZR during a Zoom conversation about Universal Standard’s new collaboration with Erdem. “I watch the same shows. I walk past the same windows. I read the same magazines. I’m influenced by the same things,” she continues. But it’s not the brand’s co-founder and creative director’s intention to solely point out the underwhelming, frustrating, and selective shopping experience that has long been the reality for women of a specific size. As Universal Standard’s inclusive ethos continues to democratize fashion with size 00 to 40 offerings, Waldman highlights the evolution of fashion for everyone, and the change she sees, which now includes an eight-piece capsule collection of denim and whimsical floral-print separates designed by Erdem. “[It’s] much more about a culture change,” she adds. “We started as the point of the sphere, and we aim to continue.”

Universal Standard’s most recent continuation began as a conversation with Erdem about a year ago, as a seamless progression for both brands. “Whenever I’m considering a collaboration, I want to do something new to me and something that I can learn from,” Erdem Moralıoğlu tells TZR via email, leading to a denim-focused capsule — a first for the designer. Extended sizing is also new for the London label, which, in January 2021, announced an expanded range from a US size 2 to a US size 18 as part of a long-term commitment to make the label more inclusive for all. “I had recently extended the sizing across [my brand], and Universal Standard and I had been talking for a long time. Their ideas and approach were so interesting and new to me that I knew I could learn something from this project.”

Bringing their expertise in fabrication, expansive sizing, and engineered fits to the table, Universal Standard left the creative reigns entirely in Moralıoğlu’s hands. “We didn’t merge [brand aesthetics] at all,” Waldman says of the partnership. “The design is pure Erdem, which I think is where the value lies in this type of collaboration. We’re bringing it to the masses, not just in terms of price point, but in terms of size inclusivity and equality.” Adding, “We want people to have access to [Erdem’s] incredible design. So, we were there to enable him and to facilitate what his designs needed in order to exist.”

“I liked the idea of taking something quite boyish and making it feminine,” Moralıoğlu says of his inspiration for the denim-focused capsule, executed remotely with Waldman and her team throughout the pandemic. “When I was thinking about this collection, I was looking at a lot of classic denim workwear and experimenting with different washes, fraying and patching.”

While the focus on jeans was new for the London-based designer, the category is beloved by Universal Standard shoppers. “Our denim has always been the kind that you could sleep in,” Waldman says. Each weight and wash used in the Erdem capsule was specifically and thoughtfully selected, not only to create fresh denim moments after months of sweatpants but versatile, size-inclusive styles of high quality. “We put so much effort into our fabric development and everything that we do. From that perspective, it’s kind of the golden egg that we brought to this [partnership],” Waldman says. Highlighting the white denim jeans and skirt as her favorites in the collection, Waldman adds, “It is the perfect weight, it feels fantastic, and it’s not see-through. It also has give to it, that stretch.”

The eight-piece Erdem x Universal Standard collection boasts an undeniably fresh feel, but the intent runs deeper than being the latest in collaborations between brands. It signifies a turning-point for size-inclusive fashion when more and more brands are “beginning to see the light and to understand that this is the future,” says Waldman. “I’m really, really proud of the fact that we found a partnership with someone like Erdem to do this, and I hope we have the opportunity to do more and more of these where designers and labels that people love and covet can at least cut their teeth on the idea of expansion and equality. Any move in that direction is a good thing.”

Becoming a size-inclusive brand takes time which is why Waldman opens herself and her team open to as much collaboration as possible. “There’s so much more interest,” she says about brands approaching Universal Standard for its expertise. “There are some brands that we collaborate with publicly. There are some we collaborate privately. It’s on whatever level because our mission is to proliferate this cultural change. Anyone who wants to participate in it in any capacity is more than welcome.”

Most importantly, Waldman says her brand’s mission is to democratize the shopping experience for women of all sizes. “It’s got nothing to do with small women shopping or big women shopping,” she says. “This is about the growth of a new cultural interface. There’s so much calcified prejudice that needs to be sloughed off. A lot of it is unintentional. It’s these very deep norms and archetypes that people think are ‘normal.’ And they’re arbitrary. We’re trying to say, this woman is as stunning as this woman, and they should both have access to what they like.”

Of course, the price point is often a barrier with luxury design. But, according to Waldman, it should be the only one. “You can save up for that,” she says about designer pieces. “The super aspirational things can stay super aspirational. But you shouldn’t be cutting out individual consumers and say, You will never participate in our brand.”

Continuing, Waldman says, “Not everything should be $9.99, or whatever it is. That’s one of life’s great varieties that you have those options. But when you’re saying, you don’t exist; you don’t deserve this; you’re not our customer, to 115 million women in the United States, it seems like absolute folly to me.”

The Erdem x Universal Standard collaboration is Waldman’s latest rebuttal to the industry. “The consumer is convinced. The consumer has a need. They want it. We just have to find the right way to speak to the consumer to make sure they know about it.” She continues, “It’s the industry that needs to be convinced, and that is what I believe is a cultural change. I hope this [collaboration] will be seen as another proof point that it can be done to the benefit of anyone concerned. This just makes so much sense. What’s come before needs to change.”

We only include products that have been independently selected by TZR's editorial team. However, we may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.