Hussein Chalayan

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Hussein Chalayan
Chalayan.jpg
Born Hüseyin Çağlayan
(1970-08-12) 12 August 1970 (age 42)
Nicosia, Cyprus
Nationality Turkish Cypriot, British
Education Central St Martins
Occupation Fashion designer
Awards MBE, 1995 Absolut Fashion Award, twice named British Designer of the Year
Labels Hussein Chalayan

Hussein Chalayan MBE (/huːˌseɪn ˈʃʌləjɑːn/; given name Hüseyin Çağlayan, Turkish: [hyseˌjin ʧaːlaˈjan]) (born 1970) is a British/Turkish Cypriot fashion designer. He has won the British Designer of the Year twice (in 1999 and 2000) and was awarded the MBE in 2006.[1]

Contents

Biography[edit]

Hussein Chalayan was born in Nicosia in 1970 and graduated from the Türk Maarif Koleji of his hometown. He moved with his family to England in 1978,[2] obtaining British citizenship. He first studied for a National Diploma in fashion and clothing at Warwickshire School of Arts, and proceeded to study Fashion Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. His graduate collection in 1993, titled "The Tangent Flows", contained clothes which he had buried in his back yard and dug up again.[3] An instant sensation, the whole collection was purchased and displayed in luxury designer store Browns in London.[4]

Shortly afterwards, Chalayan moved to East London, where several other designers were living and working.

Professional career[edit]

Hussein Chalayan dress designs on display at a 2009 exhibit.
Hussein Chalayan dress on display at Design Museum in London, United Kingdom in 2009.

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.[5]

Also in 1995 Chalayan worked with avant-garde star Björk. The jacket that Björk wears on the iconic cover of her album Post was designed by Hussein Chalayan. Björk's Post tour also featured several creations by Chalayan and Björk modeled for Chalayan in October 1995 for London Fashion week.

In the fall of 1998, while still designing his signature line, he was appointed as a design consultant for New York knitwear label TSE.[6] His collaboration with them lasted till 2001 when the company decided not to renew his contract.[7]

Chalayan has always struggled with sponsorship and funding, often receiving it from various other companies and his own country.[8] 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.[9] Subsequently, he restructured his company and staged comeback collection in 2001 without a catwalk presentation,[10] and designed for high-street label Marks and Spencer to make ends meet.[11] Italian clothing manufacturer Gibo also helped the designer as did British jeweller Asprey, who appointed him as their fashion director the same year.[12]

However, his achievements have not gone unnoticed. He was crowned 'British Designer of the Year' in 1999 and 2000,[13] and was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 17 June 2006.[14] 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.[15]

Things continued to improve for the designer. In 2002, Chalayan expanded his design portfolio with his menswear line,[16] the exclusive rights of which were sold to internet retailer Yoox.com in 2007.[17] 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.[18] In 2004, he and added another diffusion line 'Chalayan' to his expanding list of design duties.[19]

In 2003, Hussein Chalayan portrayed his wabi-sabi inspiration through amorphous layered drapings.[20]

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.[21]

In early 2008, he designed a series of laser LED dresses in collaboration with luxury label Swarovski, showcased in Tokyo.[22] 28 February 2008, Chalayan was appointed as the creative director for German sportswear label Puma.[23] Puma have also announced that they have purchased a majority stake in his label.[24] 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.[25]

On February 13, 2011, he and Nicola Formichetti collaborated with Lady Gaga at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Exhibitions where his work has been presented[edit]

  • Arts Décoratifs, Paris (2011)
  • Istanbul Modern, Istanbul (2010)
  • Contemporary Art Museum, Tokyo (2010)
  • The Art of Fashion, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Rotterdam (2010)
  • Design Museum London (2009)
  • Embankment Galleries [Somerset House], London - Skin and Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture (2008)
  • 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)
  • N°C curated by Hussein Chalayan (2002) project started by Walter Van Beirendonck for 'Fashion 2001 Landed-Geland' project in Antwerp, first numbers of A MAGAZINE curated by.
  • Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2001)
  • F.I.T., New York (2001)
  • 7th International Istanbul Biennale
  • Tate Modern, London (2001) love
  • Creative Time in the Anchorage: Exposing Meaning in Fashion through Presentation, Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage, New York, USA (group exhibition) (May 1999)

References[edit]

  1. ^ The Telegraph (2009-01-20). "From Fashion And Back: Hussein Chalayan's latest exhibition". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-03-01. 
  2. ^ Roux, Caroline (2001-09-29). "Catwalk to Istanbul". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
  3. ^ MODERNA MUSEET - Hussein Chalayan
  4. ^ Hussein Chalayan | Official website
  5. ^ Turkish-Cypriot Online Museum of Fine Arts - Hussein Chalayan
  6. ^ White, Constance C. R. (1998-04-21). "Hussein Chalayan's High-Wire Act". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
  7. ^ Horyn, Cathy (2001-01-09). "FRONT ROW; Hussein Chalayan Starting Over". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
  8. ^ "Style: He dresses the world, but Britain won't pay the price for".  Text " Independent, The (London) " ignored (help); Text " Find Articles at BNET.com" ignored (help)[dead link]
  9. ^ Alexander, Hilary (2001-01-05). "Designer of Year forced to close with £.25m debts". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
  10. ^ Haldenby, Andrew. The Daily Telegraph (London) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2001/03/21/efhush21.xml |url= missing title (help). Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
  11. ^ Haldenby, Andrew. The Daily Telegraph (London) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2001/01/17/efhussein17.xml |url= missing title (help). Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
  12. ^ Frankel, Susannah (2001-10-06). "Chalayan takes to the international stage as he makes his debut on the catwalks of Paris". The Independent (London). Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
  13. ^ hussein chalayan
  14. ^ eyesing: hussein chalayan retrospective
  15. ^ Night of Stars
  16. ^ hussein chalayan / fashion + video
  17. ^ "Heard on the Runway - WSJ.com : 2007 : October : 03". The Wall Street Journal. 
  18. ^ "THE DESIGNER: HUSSEIN CHALAYAN; Art and commerce".  Text " Independent, The (London) " ignored (help); Text " Find Articles at BNET.com" ignored (help)[dead link]
  19. ^ http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=hussein+chalayan+diffusion+line+2005&meta=
  20. ^ Wabi Sabi? Maybe, JCReport
  21. ^ Fashion is Art | Dazed Digital Incoming from UK magazine Dazed & Confused
  22. ^ Swarovski Sparkles - Swarovski Communications & Creative Service Centre, London, UK
  23. ^ Hussein Chalayan named creative director of PUMA | Vogue.com
  24. ^ 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
  25. ^ FALKE's sock boots for Hussein Chalayan | Vogue.com

External links[edit]

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