Hussein Chalayan: Designer and artiste.

Hussein Chalayan was born in Cyprus Nicosia, in 1970, around the time of the invasion of Turkey, which (with time) has seemed to influence his creative mind.

For fall 2010, Chalayan's presentation for his collection proved the art of the fashion show as theatre, he is renowned for his spectacular presentations and high tech shows ever since he appeared on the fashion scene. The current collection, being a little more commercial for Chalayan, has been referenced to as 'London in the nineties': the collection referencing hooded garments, trainers and baggy suit jackets.

Chalayan's trademarks, are his incredible complexity, in terms of his presentations of his pieces and the garments themselves, and refined clothing. Chalayan is a fashion designer yes, but also a strong artist in that his pieces of clothing seem to be heavily focused on either the environment, history, landscape, ethnography and culture: he is a very contemporary designer that likes to challenge certain concepts of life. He recognises so successfully, the fact that the way we dress is a reaction of the times we live in.

One collection that influences my ideas for our photography project is a collection that questions the dress and cultural ideas of Muslims and their religious beliefs. Chalayan shows, what appears to be, 4 models dressed in Burqa 's and with each next model a length of the cloth has been taken away to reveal more of oneself to the audience. In terms of how this relates to our project, we aren't doing a photo-shoot that references any religion but it's interesting to see his idea behind the collection and in a way it highlights something about every culture today. The idea and the role of a woman in society.