Photo: Imaxtree

Hussein Chalayan‘s preparing for his first major retrospective, launching in Paris next week. On July 5th, Les Arts Decoratifs, with help from Swarovski, will pay tribute to the designer with a look back at his almost twenty year career. The crystal company’s sponsored quite a few of Chalayan’s shows over the past five years and six of his Swarovski-studded dresses will be at the center of the exhibit. We caught up with the designer to find out how he’s feeling on the eve of such a big moment.

ELLE: What’s it like to have a museum stage a retrospective of your work?

HC: It’s a huge honour to have my work presented in exhibitions, the exhibit at Les Arts Decoratifs will be my first large scale solo show in Paris, so it’s a great privilege.

ELLE: How did you first get involved with Swarovski?

HC: My collaborations started with Swarovski five years ago on Swarovski Crystal Palace. As our relationship has grown we have tried to create a new language which combines fashion, performance and design so that we can create something unique every time.

ELLE: What has Swarovski helped you achieve that you wouldn’t have been able to pull off alone?

HC: Working with Swarovski has given me the ability to evolve ideas such as Swarovski Floating Dress from AW11 Kaikoku collection. The idea progressed from the SS2011 collection in which dresses and waistcoats were cut in curved silhouettes ad the body was filmed as if it was floating (the Floating Dress is automated). With Automata in Japan the body can potentially start to float; it is free, as it doesn’t have the restrictions of subjecting itself to ddaily chores. Designed with 50 Swarovski Crystal “pollens,” the dress is decorated preciously, juxtaposing the crystals together with pearled paper of the pollen that float in the air when released by the figure wearing the dress.

ELLE: When you think back on your past collections, what are you most proud of?

HC: Shows such as Between Afterwords, Medea, Blindscape, Airbourne and Sakoku, because they were challenging and are timeless and still look relevant now.