Do you wanna be in my Gang?

MY SITUATION, MY ROLE
The role I was given was the Editor, along with Angela.

Because of my financial situation I can't afford to spend money on Ink or printing in Uni. I panicked about what to do because I had done all of my research but thought I would have money by the end of the project to do my prints with for my sketchbook. Unfortunately that didn't happen and so on the weekend I had to quickly come up with an idea. I thought I might do essays with images on a myspace page or something. Vawn suggested I do a blog. I thought this was a good idea and so this blog was created.

What A Man

ABOUT HUSSEIN CHALAYAN

Twice awarded British Designer of the Year (1999, 2000), Chalayan caused a stir as soon as he had graduated with his collection The Tangent Flows (which was bought by designer store Browns in London). His innovative and experimental use of materials gave him an unique edge. Often his themes are inspired by his own history as someone whose identity is shaped by different cultures, his collections always stem from a project which can tranform his garments into anything from art to technological. His collections are ready to wear consisting of a few momumental garments while the rest of the collection is wearable, and relating to the 'momumental' creations.

I was pleased to learn that we had been assigned Hussein Chalayan, although I don't know much about him at this point other than he delivers spectacular catwalk presentations and of course, he created the famous 'table' dress.

Graduation and A/W 1994

Graduation Collection 1993

THE TANGENT FLOWS
Chalayan sprinkled clothes with iron filings and buried them in the garden for 6 weeks. Giving the garments an earthy, rustic look.

a/w 1994

CARTESIA

This is Chalayan's first commercial collection. It embodies more 'buried' dresses. It's inspired by a story he wrote based on the Cartesian world view.

1995 and S/S 1996

s/s 1995

TEMPORARY INTERFERENCE

This collection of garments revolves around a board game Chalayan created which was to do with jumping off a great height to reach the Divine. The balloons used on the dress above, is an idea he returns to later on in his career.

a/w 1995

ALONG FALSE EQUATOR

This collection is about different variations of flight paths on clothes representing the notion of being in two places at once. If I'm honest on this one I don't really understand the theme in relation to the garments.

s/s 1996

NOTHING/INTERSCAPE

Inspired by Noah's Arc and the Armageddon. The garments indicate what might happen to a body during this final battle, and the surgical corset represents an injured body after a potential disaster. I'm not particularly interested in this collection but I do love the corset and what it represents.

S/S and A/W 1997

s/s 1997

LANDS WITHOUT

Based on women's roles in German fairy tales. For example, Rapunzel escaping the tower. Which is clearly represented by the dresses covered in thin rope.

a/w 1997

SCENT OF TEMPESTS

A collection based on the idea to regard weather as a kind of God. You can see this in the garments that have a sort of Egyptian feel and the garments that look like ethnic garments.

S/S and A/W 1998

s/s 1998

BETWEEN

In this collection some of the models wore egg-shaped headgear which covered their faces depriving them of individuality and also protection. Some models had their heads framed with square mirrors so the audience could see the models and themselves. Ultimately the collection is about cultural codes and their respective standards. This can be seen at the end of the show when the models stand in a line wearing different length chadors.

a/w 1998

PANORAMIC

Panoramic represents how religion and technology provide a one-sided view of reality and that language is eventually too limited to be able to explain it. It's a sort of guessing game of origins of clothes that demonstrates that every reality ultimately consists of the same elements. Effectively this collection is all about language and the limitations of language. I think Chalayan presents the problem with language perfectly through his creations above.

S/S and A/W 1999

s/s 1999

GEOTROPICS

Chalayan based Geotropics on what a nation signifies and how its borders are determined by natural elements.

a/w 1999

ECHOFORM

This collection is based on the idea that everything we do is an externalization of the body. Again, it's about speed and Chalayan takes direct inspiration from the interiors of cars and planes. The last monumental garment the 'aeroplane' dress operated electronically. From this, Chalayan subsequently went on to make a film with Marcus Tomlinson.

S/S and A/W 2000

s/s 2000

BEFORE MINUS NOW

This is to do with the relation between mankind, technology and nature. I think the clothes speak for themselves.

a/w 2000

AFTERWORDS

This collection is spectacular, I think one of my favourites. The theme is refugee and focuses on the idea of having to flee from home in times of war which in turn links to the idea of hiding/camouflaging possessions. The room is set out like a living room with chairs and tables. During the show models removed the covers from the chairs, the covers became dresses, which folded into briefcases. The coffee table turned into a skirt. Eventually the room is left lifeless and empty. It's about refugees taking as many possessions with them, even if it means wearing them.

S/S 2001

VENTRILOQUY

This is based on violence, vulnerability and reincarnation. The show was held in the same studio where Alfred Hitchcock shot several films, which gave the place an atmosphere of suspense. The start of the show opened with a film of a figure with its feet being blown off to reveal a bud out of which two other figures appeared. REBIRTH. The finale shows this well with three dresses made of sugar glass being shattered with small hammers.

S/S 2002

MEDEA
In this collection the models wear clothes inspired by voodoo, the superstition of voodoo and the physical outcome of voodoo practice. The main feel is of a BEWITCHED STATE.
The colours remain earthy, with the last dress blue.
I personally love this collection, the ragged materials make the models look witchy. The theme superstition/voodoo definitely has a lot to offer.

A/W 2002 and S/S 2003

a/w 2002

MANIFEST DESTINY

This collection is all about youth and sexuality, the culture of disgust and how we view it. Chalayan wanted to portray how clothes can be used to place the body within a cultural setting of prevailing notions about beauty, chastity and decency. He wanted to free the body and restore Identity. The clothes sort of became about anatomy and you can see in the picture above how Chalayan makes the dress look as if organs have been cut out and pieces of the body are falling out. LIke intestines. This is something that interested me in particular, but I'm not sure about this idea as a film.






s/s 2003

AMBIMORPHOUS
This is quite clearly inspired by Turkish costume. The collection starts with a traditional Turkish which, throughout the show, morphs into a Western coat and then a dress, and finally morphs back into the Turkish costume. The idea is that Western intervention is powerful at the moment, and that it has become a sort of 'ethnic vs. modernist' situation.
I love the sense of power and powerlessness captured throughout this collection and I particularly like the playing with and questioning of cultures (something that is obviously quite personal to Chalayan).

A/W 2003

KINSHIP JOURNEYS

The themes for this collection are Sin, Hope, redemption and Salvation. Addressing the Roman Catholic Practice.

The set of this collection is worth mentioning as I talk about the garments. On set was a trampoline with a digital clock suspended above. The model bounced on the trampoline to reach the Elevated, the Divine (symbolised by the clock to represent the irreversibility of existence). Balloons were also tied to the clothes symbolising an attempt to reach Heaven (or whatever you believe exists after this world). Next, the futility of this is represented by the clothes without balloons so the clothes draped down.

The next object was a Confessional Box which stood for the way in which sin can control life. In the booth there was a drawer where sin, in the shape of a seed, could be planted- so it might develop into something beautiful. The clothes showed this through drapes combined with plant-like forms which sort of overgrow the body. During this 'section' the clothes became more saucy with more leather and suspenders on the skirts etc.

The last object was a coffin crossed with a boat, reffering to both death and salvation. The clothes refferenced salvation at the end of the show when the skirts 'exploded' into inflatable lifejacket floats.

I absolutely love this collection. The conceptual idea is very appealing, and anyone can relate to it. There are lots of things we could do with this theme.