QUOTATION Worldwide Creative Journal n°3
Hussein Chalayan: Sartorial Sultan
Hussein Chalayan: The Emperor of Clothing
While few fashion designers truly possess both intellect and talent, Hussein Chalayan, born in Turkey and educated in England, is one of them. A two-time British Designer of the Year and creative director at Puma, he is light-years ahead of the fashion circuit, much like his futuristic laser dresses. He dislikes calling his new exhibition at the London Design Museum, "From Fashion and Back" (January 22 – May 17, 2009), a retrospective, but it is the first comprehensive exhibition of his work in England. Showcasing his work over the past 15 years, the exhibition includes short films and art projects that Chalayan has directed, and deals with his trademark themes such as cultural identity, portable architecture, mechanics, aeronautics, and migration, all of which converge on a single vision: the artistic fusion of garment durability and technology. Then, the morning after the exhibition opened, I met him at Covent Garden, a place he used to frequent, and talked to him.
A little while ago, when we were walking around New York and talking about the name Hussein, you asked me if I thought the name was viewed negatively in New York, right?
That's right. Back then, I was thinking about shortening the brand name by cutting out a bit from my own name.
But the new President Obama's middle name is also Hussein, so the situation is completely different from back then. What do you think now?
The connection to Islamic names... I don't think my name is an obstacle. The only time I thought I might need to change my name was when I found out that a boutique in America was worried that my name might be perceived negatively. In my case, there was also the problem of my brand name being too long. Sometimes I think I should just call it Chalayan. That might be more appropriate as a brand name, and it might be less likely to be perceived negatively.
Politically, things are moving in the exact opposite direction...
Ironically, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death.
On the one hand, Barack Hussein and Obama became presidents of the United States. But that's what's great about America, and I think it shows that the possibilities are endless. America has a very liberal system, so if it goes in the right direction, it can become the most modern country in the world. Since Obama became president, there's also the possibility of starting things from scratch again. I don't know if that will have any influence on designers like me. I want people who buy my clothes to see what I'm doing, not just my name. If the brand name "Calvin Klein" was "Rabbi Eisenstein," I think it would have been difficult to sell.
The main theme of this exhibition, and something that Chalayan regularly explores in his work, is the issues of identity, migration, and movement. It always gives the impression that we want to know who we are, where we are, and where we came from.
Where I was born is a mix of many different races, like a soup. My genes are formed by a truly diverse range of cultures. Nations always try to create a single culture, so we've always wanted to know who we really are. Everyone is our...
People probably only see us as either Turkish Cypriots or Greek Cypriots, but our island was actually ruled by many different races. That's where my main theme comes from.
Does moving to the UK have anything to do with it?
That's right. I moved from Cyprus, a multi-racial island, to Britain, another multi-racial society. In Britain, immigration feels like a recent phenomenon, but in Cyprus, immigration was something that happened over a very long period of time. We're kind of descendants of the Ottoman Empire, which was a very racially hybrid empire. The emperors married Russian, Italian, and Polish women, and the women in the harems were always non-Turkish. A hybrid culture was already being born there. It might be the same in Britain in a few hundred years.
Hybrid culture is definitely expressed within the collection. For me, and for many others, I think the experience of watching Hussein Chalayan's show is very emotional.
Because I'm very emotional.
But clothing is technical and scientific, isn't it? How do you reconcile emotion and technology? Which takes priority?
I'm very emotional, but also rational. I think I exist somewhere between the two. I start a collection emotionally, and then I create it theoretically. There's a poetic part of my brain that tells stories, and a functional part that's necessary to actually bring ideas to life. Maybe it's the influence of my mother's side of the family—the way I look at things and interpret them. The ability to look at something and give it a different interpretation is something I inherited from birth. But I learned how to actually bring it to life in England.
You moved to London when you were still young, right? Did you receive most of your education in London?
I used to go back and forth. Now I've spent more time in London, so I feel more like a Londoner. But I also received my education in Cyprus from age 5 to 12 and again from age 16 to 18, so that has had an influence. It was only nine years out of my life, but it was a period of growth.
What impact did Cyprus experience?
Cyprus is a small island with a beautiful ocean, great weather, and delicious food. While it lacks a strong design culture, I think it fostered my sensibilities and historical curiosity. However, my exploration of fashion design was probably influenced by my time in London.
If you lived in another city, do you think you would have been able to create the kind of works you've produced so far?
I don't think it would have worked at all. London is more progressive and tolerant than any other city in the world. New York is too, but London has a longer history of immigration compared to other parts of Europe. That's why it's tolerant of newcomers. Also, the bad weather makes me stay indoors more often, which means I spend more time creating. When the weather is nice, it's more fun to be outside. It's a simple thought, but the influence of the weather is immeasurable.
Certainly, in warm, coastal environments, there's more of a culture of playing on the beach.
What makes London unique is that everyone comes from somewhere else. This generosity.
I think it's a consequence of past actions. They had to atone for the atrocities committed during the colonial era by accepting immigrants from other countries.
You were working on your graduation collection, burying dresses in the backyard and digging them up.
Some people might think that doing something ordinary or unsophisticated is regressive, but that's not actually the case. I think embedded dresses are just as progressive and modern as dresses with LEDs.
Yeah, it's both cutting-edge and ordinary.
That's what you'd expect from someone you've known for so many years. Technology is necessary, but it's not always necessary.
What was it like at Central Saint Martins?
Central Saint Martins is a very harmonious university. You can get in with a portfolio of still lifes, or even with a complete fashion victim background or an architecture background. Central Saint Martins is a very colorful place, like the movie "Fame."
Perhaps that's why London's design is so witty.
Maybe it's because they don't have money. There might be money in the economic sector, but there isn't in the fashion industry. When you don't have money, creativity and passion are born.
You seem to have a lot of interest in technology, art, architecture, film, and anthropology, but why did you choose fashion?
I don't think I would have been successful in any other field. I think my approach to fashion is unusual. I let the clothes generate the ideas. If I had pursued film, I think I would have stuck to film.
It was when my parents divorced, and I was living surrounded by women. I was very young. They were very strong women, but socially vulnerable. That's why I've always been interested in women's rights, and I've also been very interested in women's bodies. Buildings, vehicles, systems, etc., the things we create
Everything we do is based on the body, so I always wanted to praise it. My parents wanted me to become an architect, but I didn't want to. I chose fashion because I wanted to study the body.
But architecture is also very much related to human size, isn't it?
I think fashion is more relevant. Not just the shape, but the movement as well.
The custom-made mannequins featured in this exhibition look like they're working, but what exactly are they doing? Were they modeled after any real people?
I based the work on Sarah Ziff, a former model from New York. She's always been gorgeous and a warm person. The mannequins were watering olive trees, painting walls, cleaning cups, writing on the walls, and I thought it was a pretty good way to cleanse the exhibition space. Half of the show was something I presented four years ago at the Groningen Museum in the Netherlands, and the other half is from a new collection. I liked the idea that wherever the mannequins go, they interact with the new space in a unique way. Of course, there are also the latest works, such as wind dresses, parachute dresses, and laser and LED dresses on the mannequins.
He's won numerous design awards, represented Turkey at the 51st Venice Biennale with a collaborative film with Tilda Swinton, and been awarded the Order of the British Empire for his contributions to the British fashion industry, but he's still the hardest on himself.
There was no need to give the Queen an award. That kind of thing is done to please your mother or grandmother. I didn't understand what the benefit was. It seemed meaningless, but maybe it wasn't.
I'm always working hard and I don't cling to my past glory, but do I recognize that I've created some amazing works up until now?
The work will never end. I think there are some wonderful pieces, but all of my past works are prototypes for future evolution. I want to finish the LED fabric not just as a prototype, but as a proper fabric. I also want to make a dress that can change shape. I just have to move forward one step at a time.
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