Hussein Chalayan

Infobox Fashion Designer


|caption=
name=Hussein Chalayan
nationality=Turkish Cypriot, British
birth_date=Birth date and age|1970|08|12|df=yes
birth_place= Nicosia, Cyprus
death_date=
death_place=
education= Central St Martins
label_name= Hussein Chalayan
significant_design=
awards= MBE, 1995 Absolut Fashion Award, twice named British Designer of the Year

Hussein Chalayan MBE (or, in keeping with the original spelling of his name, Hüseyin Çağlayan) (born 1970) is a British/Turkish Cypriot fashion designer who graduated from Central Saint Martins in 1993. [http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/hc.html hussein chalayan / fashion + video ] ]

Biography

Chalayan was born in Nicosia (Lefkoşa in Turkish) in 1970 and graduated from the Turkish Maarif College of his hometown. He moved with his family having moved to England in 1978 [ [http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/experts/carolineroux/story/0,,1614982,00.html Catwalk to Istanbul | Experts | Life and Health ] ] , obtaining British citizenship and proceeded to study design in London. His graduate collection in 1993, titled "The Tangent Flows" in 1993, contained clothes which he had buried in his back yard and dug up again. [ [http://www.modernamuseet.se/v4/templates/template3.asp?lang=Eng&id=2383&bhcp=1 MODERNA MUSEET - Hussein Chalayan ] ] An instant sensation, the whole collection was purchased and displayed in luxury designer store Browns in London. [ [http://www.husseinchalayan.com/biography.php?go=collections Hussein Chalayan | Official website ] ]

Professional career

In 1995, Chalayan beat 100 competitors to clinch a top London fashion design award. In the contest, organised by the company "Absolut", Chalayan, aged 25, won financial backing to the tune of £28,000 to develop creations for the British capital's Fashion Week in October 1995. [ [http://www.cypnet.co.uk/ncyprus/culture/mofa/design/chalayan/ Turkish-Cypriot Online Museum of Fine Arts - Hussein Chalayan ] ] In the fall of 1998, while still designing his signature line, he was appointed as a design consultant for New York knitwear label TSE. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E4DD1E3CF932A15757C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Hussein Chalayan's High-Wire Act - New York Times ] ] His collaboration with them lasted till 2001 when the company decided not to renew his contract. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02EFDD133AF93AA35752C0A9679C8B63 FRONT ROW; Hussein Chalayan Starting Over - New York Times ] ]

Chalayan has always struggled with sponsorship and funding, often receiving it from various other companies and his own country. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970920/ai_n14130454 Style: He dresses the world, but Britain won't pay the price for | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ] 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. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/01/05/nchal05.xml Designer of Year forced to close with £.25m debts - Telegraph ] ] Subsequently, he restructured his company and staged comeback collection in 2001 without a catwalk presentation, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2001/03/21/efhush21.xml] and designed for high-street labelMarks and Spencer to make ends meet. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2001/01/17/efhussein17.xml] Italian clothing maufactuer Gibo also helped the designer as did British jeweller Asprey, who appointed him as their fashion director the same year. [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/chalayan-takes-to-the-international-stage-as-he-makes-his-debut-on-the-catwalks-of-paris-630417.html Chalayan takes to the international stage as he makes his debut on the catwalks of Paris - Europe, News - Independent.co.uk ] ]

However, his achievements have not gone unnoticed. He was crowned 'British Designer of the Year' in 1999 and 2000, [ [http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/chalayan.html hussein chalayan ] ] .and was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 17 June 2006. [ [http://eyesing.typepad.com/eyesing/2007/11/hussein-chalaya.html eyesing: hussein chalayan retrospective ] ] International recognition also followed, where he was awarded the Design Star Honoree by The Fashion Group International at their annual Night of Stars Gala, New York in 2007. [ [http://newyork.fgi.org/index.php?news=507 Night of Stars ] ]

Things continued to improve for the designer. In 2002, Chalayan expanded his design porfolio with his menswear line, , the exclusive rights of which were sold to internet retailer Yoox.com in 2007. [ [http://blogs.wsj.com/runway/2007/10/03/ Heard on the Runway - WSJ.com : 2007 : October : 03 ] ] 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. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020310/ai_n12605582 THE DESIGNER: HUSSEIN CHALAYAN; Art and commerce | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ] In 2004, he and added another diffusion line 'Chalayan' to his expanding list of design duties. [http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=hussein+chalayan+diffusion+line+2005&meta=]

In 2003, Hussein Chalayan portrayed his Wabi-sabi inspiration through amorphous layered drapings. [ [http://www.jcreport.com/intelligence/wabi-sabi/230103/wabi-sabi-maybe Wabi Sabi? Maybe, JCReport ] ]

A passionate fashion designer, Chalayan has made his feelings for celebrity-based fashion clear when he publicly announced how he felt about Kate Moss's collaboration with high-street clothing label Top Shop, calling the move "insulting". [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/hussein-chalayan-kate-moss-designing-a-collection-is-insulting-779368.html Hussein Chalayan: Kate Moss designing a collection is insulting - Features, Fashion - Independent.co.uk ] ]

Collaborations do not stop with art and fashion for the designer, who is also a philanthropist. In 2007, he donated a showpiece to the Fashion is Art exhibition in aid of radio station Capital 95.8's Help a London Child charity which was sold at an exclusive auction in London. [ [http://www.dazeddigital.com/incoming/fashion-is-art/ Fashion is Art | Dazed Digital Incoming from UK magazine Dazed & Confused ] ]

In early 2008, he designed a series of laser LED dresses in collaboration with luxury label Swarovski, showcased in Tokyo. [ [http://www.swarovskisparkles.com/fashion/specialprojects/n-277.htmlOn Swarovski Sparkles - Swarovski Communications & Creative Service Centre, London, UK ] ] 28th February 2008, Chalayan was appointed as the creative director for German sportswear label Puma. [ [http://www.vogue.co.uk/vogue_daily/story/story.asp?stid=51046&date=&sid= Hussein Chalayan named creative director of PUMA | Vogue.com ] ] Puma have also announced that they have purchased a majority stake in his label. [http://news.google.co.uk/news?hl=en&q=hussein+chalayan+moves+to+paris&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=news_result&resnum=4&ct=title] The designer also collaborated with German hoisery and legwear label Falke to produce one-off footwear pieces for his Autumn/Winter 2008 collection show cased in Paris. [ [http://www.vogue.co.uk/vogue_daily/story/story.asp?stid=51075 FALKE's sock boots for Hussein Chalayan | Vogue.com ] ]

Selected exhibitions where his work has been presented

* 2005, The first large-scale solo exhibition. "Hussein Chalayan: Autumn/Winter 2005", The Groninger Museum, The Netherlands(17.04.2005-04.09.2005)
* 2005: 51st International Venice Biennale (representing Turkey)
* Museum für Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe (2004)
* Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (2003)
* Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2001)
* F.I.T., New York (2001)
* 7th International Istanbul Biennale
* Tate Modern, London (2001)
* Musée de la Mode, Palais du Louvre, Paris (1999)
* Embankment Galleries [Somerset House] , London - Skin and Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture (2008)

References

External links

* [http://www.husseinchalayan.com/ Official website]