Hussein Chalayan is a Cypriot-British fashion designer known for infusing intellectual concepts into his designs. Hailed to be one of the most experimental and innovative designers in the contemporary era, he has created designs that include airplane parts, garments resembling furniture and a robot dress loaded with Swarovski crystals.
Renowned internationally for his futuristic and intellectually stimulating designs, his works have been displayed in museums such as the Palais du Louvre, London’s Design Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo.
Eventually he started his own company Cartesia Ltd. and launched a line of ready-to-wear garments. He is the recipient of several fashion awards and was also credited by ‘Time’ magazine as one of its ‘100 Most Influential Innovators of the 21st Century.’
Major Works
Readings
He designed a series of laser LED dresses in collaboration with luxury label Swarovski which was showcased in Tokyo in 2008.
"Higher forces” was the theme for Hussein Chalayan’s 2008 Spring/Summer collection. The clothes are adorned with moving laser beams, a feat made possible by the expertise of London-based designer Moritz Waldemeyer.
The lasers are attached to the fabric – also adorned with Swarovski crystals – with tiny brass hinges controlled by servo motors, which are pre-programmed to dictate the beams’ direction and timing. “When the lasers shine up at the crystals, they glow like lava – it’s an amazing effect,” says Waldemeyer.
The collection was inspired by the idea of ancient sun worship along with the current obsession with celebrity, and was presented in a short film by photographer Nick Knight shown during Paris fashion week.
The lasers “refract light from the body and bounce off mirrors surrounding it,” says Chalayan. “This represents the interplay between a scrutinised figure and the audience.”
The laser dresses for Swarovski were the finale to Chayalan's Spring Summer 2008 collection, called Readings, and were inspired by ancient sun worship and contemporary celebrity status.
Hundreds of moving lasers were embedded in the clothing, together with crystals that refracted the rays of red light.
Before Minus Now
He displayed a series of architectural dresses in the ‘Before minus now’ collection for Spring/Summer 2000 where the dresses featured wire-frame architectural prints against static white backgrounds that were generated by a computer program.
Remote Control Dress
His “Remote Control” dress which incorporated the aerodynamics of airplane travel into its form was the first wireless device to be presented as a fully functioning fashion garment. It was showcased at the Hyères Festival in France in 2000.
