Huseyin Caglayan - A Futurist

A Futurist

Representing Turkey successfully in fashion platforms globally, Hüseyin Çağlayan is recognized with his artist identity besides being a fashion designer. Born in Northern Cyprus, Çağlayan completed his education in England's Central St. Martin's School of Art. He began fashion design in 1994 and was given the "Designer of the Year" award on two occasions in England. In addition to his seasonal collections, he also designed costumes for Haendel's "Messiah" opera and Michael Clarke dance company's "Current/See" show. He edited and curated the November 2002 issue of C Magazine. 1995 when he won the award for "Best Fashion Design" among 100 designers was a lucky year for him; he worked for Top Shop, sold his designs to TSE store selling cashmere clothes in America and joined the competition organized by Absolut at the London Fashion Week. Some of the artist's designs are even displayed in the Victoria & Albert Museum in England.

Unlike most fashion designers, Çağlayan moves from the political, economic and social repercussions of the contemporary world and brings his designs into life with a philosophical positioning. His works in his 2000 Fall/Winter show titled "After Worlds", inspired from the forced migration movement in the Balkans and in Cyprus where he spent his childhood are some of the best examples…His show where armchair fabric turned into dresses and suitcases and tables turned to skirts has already been engraved in memories.

Contemporary Odyssey His focus on art work besides his designer identity is another attribute distinguishing Hüseyin Çağlayan though art viewers in Turkey have not had many chances of seeing his creations in the area of conceptual art. Hüseyin Çağlayan, now, often comes to Turkey and shares what he produces with Turkish people, as evidenced by two works displayed at the Biennial two years ago, then the "Echoforms" exhibition at Galerist last year and nowadays the video installation and fashion shows at Project 4L, "Place to Passage".

The designer, admired for his creative and innovative collections forcing the limits in fashion design, breaks the boundaries between fashion design and contemporary art with his projects. The Project 4L Istanbul Contemporary Art Museum hosted an exhibition incorporating Hüseyin Çağlayan's works in fashion and art in April. The exhibition is comprised of two sections: "Place to Passage" (2003) video installation, awarded by the Tribe Art commission, first shown in November 2003 in London and an Infoctech of his other works. The video installation is on the ground floor and the Infotech on the second floor. The film, to be shown synchronized on six big screens, depicts a futurist journey from London to Istanbul. In the film an androgynous figure (Bennu Gerede) leaves an empty car park from London in a pod resembling a cocoon and reaches Istanbul. The traveler, crossing cities, deserts and oceans satisfies her daily needs such as eating, sleeping, etc. in this specially designed pod. In the film, where video and animation are combined, a digital and futurist Istanbul is described and the journey ends in Istanbul in a car park identical to the one in London. In his film, Çağlayan stresses the alienating effect of traveling with a poignant visuality, telling his own story of returning home and portrays a contemporary "Odyssey" epic. While he enchants women around the world with his collections, Hüseyin Çağlayan carries on with his artwork, too. In his own words, he is a "person of ideas" and constantly reinvents himself, both in fashion and art. We look forward to seeing him in Turkey once again with new works…

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