Im Gespräch mit Hussein Chalayan

Hussein Chalayan is one of the most influential and visionary fashion designers of his generation. His work moves fluidly across fashion, art, technology and performance and has consistently redefined what clothing can be and how it can be experienced.

His runway presentations are known for their conceptual depth and inventive staging. In his 2000 Afterwords show at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre, a wooden coffee table transformed into a skirt before a live audience, creating one of the most memorable moments in contemporary fashion. Earlier, in his Spring Summer 1998 collection Zwischen, Chalayan sparked debate by presenting models in black and white chadors of varying lengths worn without garments underneath until the final looks appeared nude except for a face covering. The collection confronted cultural codes of dress and exposure and questioned how clothing defines identity and territory. His work has been exhibited in institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Today, alongside developing new collections, Chalayan teaches at HTW Berlin and continues to push creative boundaries while mentoring the next generation of designers.

In conversation with SLEEK, he speaks about politicised work, risk taking, education and how fashion can remain meaningful in a world driven by speed and spectacle.

Annika Muth Since when have you been teaching at HTW?

Hussein ChalayanI started in late 2019. I am based in London, but my teaching is a mix of in person and remote, depending on the semester. Teaching is very much an evolutionary process for me. Before Berlin, I taught for five years at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, so I already had experience in academia.

I teach because I have accumulated many years of experience and I feel I can help younger designers navigate a field that is complex and often overwhelming. It is not just about transferring skills. It is about helping them find their own voice. Fashion education should not be about fitting students into one box. It should encourage experimentation, exploration and flexibility. My role is to open doors, not to dictate the path.

AM When you teach, do you see traces of yourself in your students’ work?

HCSometimes. Students often reference designers they admire, and occasionally that includes me. That is natural. When you are still searching for your identity, you look to others.

What matters is honesty in influence. They should know exactly who they are referencing, why they are doing it and what they want to achieve with it. It should not be copy and paste. It should be reinterpretation. My hope is that they eventually move beyond those references and develop something genuinely their own.

I always tell them that if they want to create interesting fashion, they should not only look at fashion. The most compelling ideas often come from outside the discipline, from art, architecture, politics or science. Fashion alone is rarely enough. Curiosity is where innovation begins.

AM Taking risks seems central to your practice. Is that something you actively encourage?

HCAbsolutely. If you are not willing to take risks, you will not create work that feels new or urgent. From the beginning of my career, I believed that innovation requires stepping into uncertain territory. Risk is a conscious choice, and for me it has always been essential. This does not mean being reckless. Risk should be purposeful. When I transform furniture into clothing or stage a collection that confronts political symbolism, it is because the idea requires it. The form follows the question.

Today there is a lot of pressure to fit in and to be liked, especially through social media. That can make designers more cautious. I would like to see more young designers take courageous steps. Not every idea will succeed, but failure is part of building resilience and independence.

AM Your collections often carry political undertones. Would you describe your work as inherently political?

HCIn many ways, yes. I grew up in London, but I am originally from Cyprus, an island marked by conflict. My family was directly affected by political circumstances. Experiencing displacement and separation at a young age shaped how I think about identity, migration and belonging.

Those themes inevitably surface in my work. I am not interested in delivering fixed statements. I am more interested in raising questions. There is rarely a single truth in political or cultural matters. I am fascinated by multiplicity and by how perspectives shift depending on who is looking. Fashion can operate as a form of inquiry. It can create space to reflect on lived experience. It is not fashion for fashion’s sake. It is about examining how clothing defines identity, territory and power, as in Zwischen, where the body, exposure and cultural codes became a language.

At the same time, fashion can offer escapism. It moves in waves. Sometimes it is more overtly political, sometimes more introspective. What I see today is plurality rather than one dominant direction.

AM You have spoken about your fascination with packaging as a concept. Can you expand on that?

HCWhen I talk about packaging, I am referring to how experience is structured. Packaging determines how something is revealed to you. Someone has already decided how you should open, encounter and consume it.

As a child, I was fascinated by systems, for example airplane food trays with their compartments and precise organisation. Later I became interested in aerograms, the folded airmail letters. They represented communication but also separation. When I was studying in England and my family was in Cyprus, letters carried emotional weight. The packaging itself marked distance. Over time, this developed into a broader interest in how institutions prescribe behaviour. Packaging can be understood as a form of control. It shapes perception before you have even had your own experience.

In many of my garments, the packaging becomes part of the piece. You remove it, but it remains attached. What was concealed becomes visible. Transformation from hidden to revealed is central. Clothing, in that sense, becomes both object and event.

AM You also collaborate commercially with brands. How does that differ from your more conceptual work?

HCCollaboration requires awareness of another entity’s needs, their market, their audience and their structure. That demands a different way of thinking. However, it does not mean that creativity disappears.

I always try to push boundaries within what is possible. Working with others teaches responsibility and adaptability. You cannot remain inside your own bubble. You have to understand how to contribute meaningfully while maintaining intention. Creativity is not about doing something for its own sake. It is about purpose, whether you are designing a conceptual runway piece, a commercial collection or guiding students in a classroom.

AM: How do you see the role of fashion education today?

HCTeaching must go beyond technique. Students need space to develop their voice and to understand how fashion interacts with broader cultural and social structures. Education should encourage interdisciplinary thinking, depth and reflection rather than conformity.

I deeply respect hard work and merit. Many students today combine their studies with different jobs. That flexibility gives them perspective and exposes them to various realities. It can enrich their work. Compared to when I first started teaching, students now seem more fluid in their approach. They explore multiple avenues at once. My role is to help them recognise the value of those diverse experiences and shape them into a strong personal language.

AM To conclude, what advice would you give young designers navigating creative careers today?

HCBe aware of context and respect your own process. Fashion is not just craft. It is language. Like any language, it becomes powerful when you understand why you are using it. Be open to failure. Be open to influences from unexpected places. Question assumptions. Education is not about receiving answers. It is about developing the capacity to ask meaningful questions.