The thousand transformations of Hussein Chalayan

His home country, disputed between Turkey and Greece, also gave him a sense of disorientation and impermanence that influenced his creations. "Back then in Cyprus, my people always had their suitcases packed, they always had to be ready to run away, like people in Gaza or Lebanon now," he recalled. Hence his 'transformer' collection from 2000, where chairs become suitcases, chair covers become dresses and a coffee table turns into a skirt.

Transformer clothes have since become a leitmotif of Chalayan's collections, who anticipated automation with clothes that change shape on their own and designed clothes that melt away in the rain revealing another dress underneath.

From the video with Tilda Swinton presented at the Turkish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2005 to the exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, from the costumes and sets created for contemporary dance at Sadler's Wells to the installations for the Shanghai museum, Chalayan has always sought and found new forms of expression. His creations are part of the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

"What gives me most satisfaction is the challenge, I always look for projects that are difficult and even expensive to realise," he admitted. "I have been lucky enough to find clients willing to let me experiment, but now in the current climate everything is more difficult.

In recent years Chalayan has stopped making seasonal collections and only does collaborations with brands chosen for their ability to innovate, whether in luxury like the French Vionnet or in sportswear like the Korean Kolon. He was creative director at Puma for five years, managing to combine experimentation (such as the accessories being an integral part of the clothes), sustainability and commercial success.

He also started teaching, convinced by his friend Zaha Hadid, the 'starchitect', and has been teaching Fashion at HTW, the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, for twelve years. An entirely positive experience: 'I would never have thought of it if it weren't for Zaha,' he recounts. 'Teaching is not only giving but above all receiving. I come from an analogue world and I experienced the transition to digital minute by minute, whereas young people understand it in a very different way'.

Chalayan's next collaboration is top secret: the collection will be released in October but until then it is not allowed to talk about it. It is just one of many ongoing projects for the multifaceted designer. 'I would say that curiosity is my main talent, I actually use my work as an excuse to keep learning,' he said. 'I have a boundless interest in all the many facets of life. My luck is that fashion is fashionable now. Fashion is fashionable'.