Hussein Chalayan: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Turkish Cypriot/British fashion designer|bot=PearBOT 5}}

|honorific_suffix= {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE|RDI}}

|image = Hussein Chalayan portrait.jpg

|caption =

|native_name = Hüseyin Çağlayan

Hussein Chalayan was born in [[Nicosia]] in 1970 and graduated from the [[Türk Maarif Koleji]] secondary school in his hometown.<ref name="Roux">{{cite news| url=http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/experts/carolineroux/story/0,,1614982,00.html | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Catwalk to Istanbul | first=Caroline | last=Roux | date=29 September 2001 | access-date=4 May 2010}}</ref> At that time, the population of the island was divided because of the constant struggles between the Greek and Turkish authorities. Ethnic conflicts between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities eventually led to the [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]] and led to human right abuses towards civilians on both sides.<ref>Paul Sant Cassia, Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory, and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus, Berghahn Books, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-84545-228-5}}, p. 237.</ref><ref>European Commission of Human Rights, "Report of the Commission to Applications 6780/74 and 6950/75" , 　Council of Europe, 1976, p. 160,161,162,163.</ref> For this reason, Chalayan and his family were forced to move to England in 1978.<ref name="Roux"/>

After attending [[Highgate School]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ed: Hughes|first1=Patrick|last2=Davies|first2=Ian|title=Highgate School Register|date=1988|publisher=Castle Cary Press|location=Somerset|page=423|edition=Seventh}}</ref> he studied for a National Diploma in fashion and clothing at the [[Warwickshire College Group|Warwickshire School of Arts]], and proceeded to study Fashion Design at [[Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design]] in London.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.vogue.co.uk/article/hussein-chalayan-biography|title=Hussein Chalayan|last=Alexander|first=Ella|work=Vogue UK}}</ref> His graduate collection in 1993, titled "The Tangent Flows", contained clothes which he had buried in a back yardbackyard<ref>[http://www.modernamuseet.se/v4/templates/template3.asp?lang=Eng&id=2383&bhcp=1 MODERNA MUSEET – Hussein Chalayan<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210052957/http://www.modernamuseet.se/v4/templates/template3.asp?lang=Eng&id=2383&bhcp=1 |date=10 February 2009 }}</ref> and exhumed just before the show where they were presented with an accompanying text that explained the process. The ritual of burial and resurrection was said to give the garments a dimension that referenced to life, death, and [[urban decay]]. The work attracted the attention of the [[Browns (Fashion Boutique)|Browns]] fashion boutique in London, who borrowed the collection to feature in their window display.<ref name="Quin, Bradley pp. 359">Quin, Bradley. "A note: Hussein Chalayan, Fashion and Technology". Fashion Theory, volume 6, Issue 4, pp. 359–368, Berg, United Kingdom.</ref>

Hussein ChalayansChalayan's fashion shows are characterised by minimal sets and a mood of suspense, incorporating elements of contemporary interiors, urban architecture, and geometric structures. In the shows, the conceptual and theoretical inspirations behind his garments are played out across the body.<ref name="Quin, Bradley pp. 359"/>

In 1995, Chalayan clinched a London fashion design award organised by the company "[[Absolut vodka|Absolut]]". Chalayan won a £28,000 grant to develop creations for the British capital's Fashion Week in October 1995.<ref>[http://www.cypnet.co.uk/ncyprus/culture/mofa/design/chalayan/ Turkish-Cypriot Online Museum of Fine Arts – Hussein Chalayan<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In the same year, Chalayan worked with [[avant-garde]] star [[Björk]], designing the jacket featured on the cover of her album [[Post (Björk album)|Post]]. Björk's Post tour also featured several creations by Chalayan and Björk modelled for Chalayan in October 1995 for London Fashion week.<ref name="White">{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E4DD1E3CF932A15757C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all | work=The New York Times | title=Hussein Chalayan's High-Wire Act | date=21 April 1998 | access-date=4 May 2010 | first=Constance C. R. | last=White}}</ref>

In his collection ''Between'' for Spring/Summer 1998 he sent models onto the catwalk wearing black [[Chador|chadors]] of varying lengths and nothing else, alluding to fashion's continual shift of erogenous zones around the female body arising in response to changing ideals.<ref name="Quin, Bradley pp. 359"/> The first was nude apart from a mask covering her face. Each veil became longer and longer until, finally, the last one wore a chador which covered most of her body and allowed a gap just for her eyes. According to Chalayan this piece was about defining cultural territory.<ref>Blanchard, Tamsin (24 September 2000). "Mind over Material". The Observer. Retrieved 18 September 2013.</ref>

The ''Panoramic'' collection for Fall/Winter 1998 expressed the idea of infinity in a surreal cityscape of geometric forms and distorted images. The models were distorted into generic shapes and unified by architectural proportions; cones were fixed to the top of the head and faces and bodies swathed in black to obscure their identity. As Chalayan explored the idea of representing nature in this collection, he broke it down into its most basic graphic representation, pixels. Body and clothing were then merged into a digital landscape, which was recreated in enlarged cube-shaped pixels.<ref name="Quin, Bradley pp. 359"/>

The ''Before minus now'' collection for Spring/Summer 2000 contained a series of architectural dresses which evolved from his collaboration with ''B Consultants'', a London-based firm of architectural engineers. The dresses featured wire-frame architectural prints against static white backgrounds, generated by a computer program that allows designers to draw within a range of three-dimensional perspectives inside an architectural landscape. The images were then transferred onto silk and cotton fabrics using a mechanised fabric-printing process.<ref name="Quin, Bradley pp. 359"/> This collection also featured the "Remote Control" dress which premiered at the Hyères Festival in France in 2000 and clearly illustrated Chalayan's interest in technology.<ref name="Bayraktar-Aksel, Damla 2012"/> The dress incorporated the aerodynamics of aeroplane travel into its form and aesthetic and was considered a hi-tech triumph that connected fashion to technology and technology to the body, establishing a dialogue between the body and the environment. The Remote Control dress was the first wireless device to be presented as a fully functioning fashion garment.<ref name="Quin, Bradley pp. 359"/>

His ''Geotrophics'' collection for Spring/Summer 1999 had already featured Chair Dresses that represented the idea of a nomadic existence and a completely transportable environment. This concept was later expanded in Chalayan's ''After Words'' collection for Fall/Winter 2000.<ref name="Quin, Bradley pp. 359"/> which included some of his most well -known designs such as ‘the coffee table dress'.<ref>Finn, Angela L. & Finn, Lee M. "Uncertainty and Innvation in Fashion Design" Queensland University of Technology.[http://eprints.qut.edu.au/40910/]. Retrieved 18 September 2013.</ref> In ''Afterwords'', Hussein Chalayan focused on the involuntary and dramatic aspect of mobility, and illustrated the sentimental impacts of forced migration.<ref name="Bayraktar-Aksel, Damla 2012"/> Presented at ''Sadler's Wells'' theatre in London, the show featured a bare, white stage flanked by asymmetrical planes on three sides and contained 1950s-style furniture that the models adapted as clothing in the show's finale and either carried or wore off the stage.<ref name="Quin, Bradley pp. 359"/> One of the models transforms a mahogany coffee table into a geometrical and telescopic skirt, so that it becomes displaceable on human body.<ref name="ReferenceABayraktar-Aksel, Damla 2012"/> The show was based on the idea of having to evacuate home during a time of war, hiding possessions when a raid was impending, and using clothing as the means to carry away possessions more quickly. The theme was an autobiographical expression of Chalayan's Turkish Cypriot roots and the political events that affected his childhood.<ref name="Quin, Bradley pp. 359"/>

However Chalayan does not merely illustrate the situation, he challenges the historical context in which the immigrants had to leave behind their possessions and lose their identity because of their un-portable quality of the objects. Since he designs the clothes as portable private properties, the immigrants can carry these items that define their identities and cultures with them during their unwanted journeys. This way he allows them a relatively more active position where they can adapt the physical nature to the social context.<ref name="ReferenceABayraktar-Aksel, Damla 2012"/> The Table Skirt and the entire set from the show were later featured in the 2001 Tate Modern's Century City exhibition in London.<ref name="Quin, Bradley pp. 359"/>

Despite this attention and recognition for his work Chalayan struggled with sponsorship and funding, often receiving it from various other companies and his own country.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970920/ai_n14130454 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209223324/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970920/ai_n14130454 | url-status=dead | archive-date=9 February 2009 | title=Style: He dresses the world, but Britain won't pay the price for | work= The Independent|location=London }}</ref> TSE's decision not to renew his contract caused further financial difficulties as the designer amounted 250,000 pounds in debt and was forced to go into voluntary liquidation.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/01/05/nchal05.xml | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | title=Designer of Year forced to close with £.25m debts | first=Hilary | last=Alexander | date=5 January 2001 | access-date=4 May 2010}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Subsequently, he restructured his company and staged a comeback collection in 2001 without a catwalk presentation,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2001/03/21/efhush21.xml |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=4 May 2010 |first=Andrew |last=Haldenby }}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and designed for high-street label [[Marks and Spencer]] to make ends meet.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2001/01/17/efhussein17.xml |title=Time to collect an Autograph |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=4 May 2010 |first=Andrew |last=Haldenby |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531160427/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=%2Ffashion%2F2001%2F01%2F17%2Fefhussein17.xml |archive-date=31 May 2008 }}</ref> Italian clothing manufacturer Gibo also helped the designer as did British jeweller Asprey, who appointed him as their fashion director the same year.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/chalayan-takes-to-the-international-stage-as-he-makes-his-debut-on-the-catwalks-of-paris-630417.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=Chalayan takes to the international stage as he makes his debut on the catwalks of Paris | first=Susannah | last=Frankel | date=6 October 2001 | access-date=4 May 2010}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

In July 2002, Chalayan expandedlaunched his designfirst portfoliomenswear withcollection, hiswhich menswearwas line,manufactured by Italian company Gibo.<ref name=autogenerated1>[http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/hc.html hussein chalayan / fashion + video<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306013231/http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/hc.html |date=6 March 2008 }}</ref> theThe exclusive rights of which were sold to internet retailer Yoox.com in 2007.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://blogs.wsj.com/runway/2007/10/03/ | work=The Wall Street Journal | title=Heard on the Runway – WSJ.com : 2007 : October : 03}}</ref> After going through financial woes including having to move his studio three times and working from home with his team in-between, he announced plans to relocate his fashion shows to Paris.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020310/ai_n12605582 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926084309/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020310/ai_n12605582 | url-status=dead | archive-date=26 September 2008 | title=THE DESIGNER: HUSSEIN CHALAYAN; Art and commerce |work= The Independent|location=London }}</ref> In 2004, he added another diffusion line to his expanding list of design duties.

* Solo exhibition "Fashion Narratives" at Les Arts Decoratifs, Paris (2011 July – November)

* Installation " I Am Sad Leyla (Üzgünüm Leyla)" exhibited during a solo show at Lisson Gallery, London.

* Hussein Chalayan received the "Fashion Visionary Award" for his 20 years of Design Excellence during Audi Fashion Festival, Singapore (2013 May)

* [[Brit InsiranceInsurance Design Awards|Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Award]] in the Fashion category for the A/W'07 Airborne collection (2008 March) . A/W'07 LED Dress exhibited as part of the 100 nominations exhibition in the Design Museum, London.

[[Category:BritishTurkish people of Turkish Cypriot descent]]

[[Category:People from North Nicosia]]

[[Category:20th-century Cypriot artists]]

[[Category:Clothing brands of the United KingdomTurkey]]