Hussein Chalayan
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Hussein Chalayan MBE (or, in keeping with the original spelling of his name, Hüseyin Çağlayan) (born 1970) is a British/Turkish Cypriot fashion designer.
He was born in Nicosia (Lefkoşa in Turkish) in 1970. He graduated from the Turkish Maarif College of his hometown, and his family having moved to England in 1982, obtained British citizenship and later studied design in London. While finishing his studies at the Central St. Martin’s School of Art in 1993, his senior year collection, “The Tangent Flows“, was displayed in Browns Windows.
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 UK Pounds 28,000 to develop creations for the British capital's Fashion Week in October 1995.
Along with his own line, he also recently designed for TSE knitwear. His personality is calmer than his fellow British designers, yet his shows can be thought provoking and intense. His designs, which can be based on experiments and even abstractions of existing items such as meteorological charts, are often minimal and elegant.
Twice named 'British Designer of the Year', Chalayan also won much praise from trade publications around the world. He remains highly innovative and active, busy and present in various centers of the fashion business, especially in London and İstanbul, the last being the hometown of yet another famous name in the business, Rıfat Özbek.
Chalayan was created a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 17 June 2006.
[edit] Selected exhibitions where his work has been presented
- 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)
