After 16 Years - Hussein Chalayan Returns To The London Fashion Week Show Schedule

British based designer, Hussein Chalayan, who has shown his collections in Paris for over a decade, has returned to the London Fashion Week schedule. The designer presented his collection at Sadlers Wells theatre, a well know home for some of the designers most dramatic shows.

On his reasons for coming back, Chalayan told WWD:

“We left London, as we felt we were making this very big effort…but a lot of people weren’t coming to London at that time. And we felt for business we had to go to Paris – and when we moved to Paris our business grew considerably,” he said. “These days it’s different. You have to remember that digital media, the whole thing, was not as developed as it is now – it was a different life.”

The designer is renowned for his avant-garde fashion designs, but there was no show drama this time - and for Chalayan's return the designer opted for a collection that was both contemporary and wearable, and his presentation focused on displaying the symmetry and the detail of his clothes. A move by Chalayan that might be in light of him striving to avoid being known as a 'conceptual artist,' and to realign his work with commerciality - so as to reach more people.

In the past, the designer expressed in an interview with Vestoj, how he found the term 'limiting.'

"Well, I always wanted my shows to be a cultural experience for the audience, but what ended up happening is that newspapers put, say, my bubble dress on the front page to sell more papers, and it would make people think that I was an ‘artist’, and not interested in making wearable clothes. But actually in the same collection I’d have long tailored coats, and the bubble dress without the bubbles and those garments never got any attention."

He goes onto say that:

"My work is admired by the industry but it doesn’t reach the end consumer. Early in my career I used to think that it was okay to remain exclusive, to be a designer’s designer and perceived as ‘conceptual’. Today I feel differently...I find it very limiting."

"You know, this word conceptual – I hate it now." - Hussein Chalayan

The simplicity of this current collection allows for a much deeper appreciation of the designers clothes. A conscious move by the designer - we believe - to repositioning his brand.