One of my favourite Latin odes is the one by Horace in which the poet declares he has erected a monument that will last longer than bronze and than the pyramids ("Exegi monumentum aere perennius"). The monument Horace referred to was his poetical art, those poems and hymns that ensured him posthumous fame. Every time I think about this poem, the work of designer Hussein Chalayan springs to mind. I do indeed think that Chalayan is one of the few designers who has already left an amazing legacy worth to be exhibited in museums and to be studied not only by fashion students, but also by people following sociology, technology and science courses. 
My comparison with Horace also comes from the fact that, a while back, Chalayan described as ‘monuments to ideas’ three dresses from consecutive collections he did between 1999 and 2000. The first dress, from his ‘Geotropics’ (Spring/Summer 1999) collection, was made in resin and reminded of a chair that cocooned the model’s body, while also symbolised the idea of the itinerant existence; the second ‘monument’ was the airplane dress from the ‘Echoform’ (Autumn/Winter 1999-2000) collection that featured moving flaps activated by a switch operated by the model; the third dress, part of the ‘Before Minus Now’ (S/S 2000) collection, was operated by a remote control that could lift the rigid flaps of the dress, revealing a mass of pink tulle under it. 
Chalayan’s three “monuments to ideas” won’t be the only designs on which the first major exhibition that will be held in London about Chalayan will focus on. Opening in January at the Design Museum, the exhibition will indeed analyse Chalayan’s entire career.
Born in Nicosia, Cyprus, Chalayan moved to England when he was 12 and, in 1993, he graduated from Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design. His graduate collection, called ‘The Tangent Flows’ (1993) featured garments made with fabric Chalayan buried in a friend’s garden with some rusted iron pieces. The outfits Chalayan made for this fabric allowed the designer to explore the concepts of change and decay. 
As the years passed, Chalayan’s collections turned into explorations of different themes, from nature to technology and architecture. The designer became famous for taking his inspirations from ideas that are not usually associated with fashion, such as the themes of exile, alienation, nomadism, transformation, individuality, oppression, cultural displacement and visions of the past in the future. Early examples of these themes are the fashion show for his 'Ventriloquy' (S/S 2001) collection with its interplay of virtual and real narratives; the garments from his ‘Medea’ (S/S 2002) collection symbolising with their copious zips and ties and oppressive state of mind 
and the more technological designs from Chalayan’s recent S/S 07 collection that featured dresses that morphed through different decades - from the early 1900s to 2007 - automatically transforming in shape and style thanks to a computer system designed by the London-based engineering and concept-creation firm 2D3D.
The exhibition will also explore Chalayan’s innovative use of materials and highlight his refreshing approach to fashion and technology. 
In a way the event will mirror the designer's approach to his collections: when he designs Chalayan doesn’t work focusing only on the garments, but also on their meaning; the exhibition will do the same, trying to explore the meanings behind his visions of the past and the future.
Among the best pieces that will be exhibited at the Design Museum there are the furniture-morphing dresses from his ‘After Words’ (A/W 2000-01) collection and the ‘Airborne’ laser dress made of Swarovski crystals and LED lights from his ‘Readings’ collection (S/S 08). 
The former were inspired by the news from Kosovo about people fleeing their houses in a rush during the war, but also by his own experiences as a Turkish Cypriot living abroad; the latter was instead inspired by the culture of sun worship and the cult of celebrity and features over 200 moving lasers and Swarovski crystals. The lights emanating and bouncing back from the dress represent the aura of performance, but are also used to explore the theme of space. 
The event will definitely allow visitors to get to know better Chalayan’s work, and while it will be unmissable for his fans, the exhibition will also be relevant to people who have an interest in philosophy, science and anthropology. Art lovers will also find the event interesting: since 2003, the designer has also directed art projects, including the short films “Temporal Meditations”, “Place to Passage” and “Anaesthetics” and, in 2005, he represented Turkey at the 51st Venice Biennale with “Absent Presence”, featuring Tilda Swinton. 
Many people conceive fashion as something very ephemeral. But, you could argue, fashion is very relevant to human beings also from a sociological point of view as it has always registered the changes and transformations society has gone through.
Hussein Chalayan has chronicled these transformations in an amazing way, allowing us to ponder on these dramatic changes through his more conceptual pieces while providing us with wearable and timeless designs.
Hussein Chalayan Works 1994 – 2009, Design Museum, Shad Thames, London SE1 2YD, UK, 21 January – 17 May 2009.
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