Hussein Chalayan MBE, born in 1970, is a British/Turkish Cypriot fashion designer.
He graduated from the Turkish Maarif College of his hometown, and his family having moved to England in 1982, obtained British citizenship and later studied design in London. While finishing his studies at the Central St. Martin's School of Art in 1993, his senior year collection, "The Tangent Flows", was displayed in Browns Windows.
In 1995, Chalayan overcame 100 competitors to secure a top London fashion design award. In the contest, organized by the company "Absolut", Chalayan, aged 25, won financial backing to develop creations for the British capital's Fashion Week in October 1995.
Hussein's personality is calmer than his fellow British designers, yet his shows can be thought provocative and intense. His designs, which can be based on experiments and even abstractions of existing items such as meteorological charts, are often minimal and elegant.
Twice 'British Designer of the Year', Chalayan also won much praises from trade publications around the world. He remains highly innovative and active, busy and present in various centers of the fashion business, especially in London and ?stanbul, the last being the hometown of yet another famous name in the business, Rifat Ozbek.
Chalayan became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on June 2006.
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