February 17, 2020 |
This has to be a first. In a marvellous feat of polymathery Hussein Chalayan didn’t just design his collection but also wrote and sang his own lyrics to a soundtrack worked on with legendary dance music maestro Mark Moore of S Express and the equally legendary Dan Donovan (Big Audio Dynamite and Dreadzone). It really was quite a fashion moment. For Chalayan, it was all about taking the inspiration for his collection to a logical conclusion.
He’d become fascinated by indigenous Australian Aboriginal songlines – the oral tradition of marking the routes across the land by singing them into existence. Chalayan created a Songline of his own, based on his route to and from work, “voicing” his daily route into existence and into fashion. The clothes are created with his unique design vocabulary – honed over 25 years of singular creation. Quirky (the twisted harnesses that atoned many looks) conceptual (wearing one arm inside your dress), simple (the deep V on an otherwise monastic dress) and visually stunning (bursts of crimson on black column dresses). It was all presented with Hussein’s signature passion. Bravo.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans.
