Hussein Chalayan

It may be fashion, but this is not frivolous fodder: Hussein Chalayan, the subject of a midcareer retrospective at the Design Museum, uses fashion design as a means of probing topical and multidisciplinary themes—from climate change to women’s roles in Islamic culture to celebrity worship. His 2000 “After Words” collection, for instance, was inspired by the idea of refugees fleeing and reflected his Turkish-Cypriot heritage (while perhaps alluding to the double meaning of prêt-à-porter—“ready to wear” or “to carry”). A stark modernist living room, which models walked through and ultimately disassembled, served as the runway: Stripped chair covers became dresses; chair bases were folded into suitcases and carted off. A model stepped into a round coffee table, pulled it up around her waist as if expanding an accordion, and transformed it into a tiered skirt of polished wood. Instantly iconic, the table skirt was the pièce de résistance, eliciting gasps.

Such unexpected and astounding morphings recur throughout Chalayan’s oeuvre. In his “Ambimorphous” collection from fall 2002, he deconstructed an ethnic Turkish costume into asymmetrically cut modern western wear. His 1999 Airmail Dress, a paper garment with instructions for folding and fitting, unfurls from a blue-and-red airmail envelope. The finale of his spring 2007 show, which explored how fashion has been shaped by historical events, began with a model in a high-necked, bustled Victorian gown. As she stood frozen, her jacket opened, sleeves retreated, and hemline rose, seemingly on their own. Suddenly, she was wearing a beaded flapper dress, her clothing metamorphosed by complex mechanisms embedded in its delicate structure. By focusing on these spectacular flourishes, however, this exhibition assigns disproportionate emphasis to Chalayan’s concepts and special-effects wizardry—the “performance art” aspect of his work. Collections are reduced to a single, invariably avant-garde, outfit. Without a sense of his more wearable garments and their exquisite construction, the visitor is left to ponder how Chalayan could ever turn a profit.