Avant-garde designer Hussein Chalayan is appealing to the masses

Architectural grace and artistic levity are considered defining characteristics of Hussein Chalayan's clothing. And this summer he's been collaborating with British artist Gavin Turk on London's Collision fashion show. As a result he is labelled one of fashion's most conceptual, avant-garde designers. However, Chalayan isn't exactly pleased by this.

"Can I be honest?" says the Cypriot-British designer, when we meet in a small café outside the venue of his Paris Autumn/Winter 2012 runway show. "When people are known as 'this' style of designer or 'that' style of designer, that's people's perception. The reality is I always wanted to sell clothes from day one and I always have done."

The conceptual versus commercial dichotomy in fashion clearly irks Chalayan. He doesn't see why his aesthetic shouldn't translate to being commercially accessible. Yet, he also criticises commercial gimmicks like the Kate Moss collaboration with British high-street label Topshop in 2007, calling it "insulting".

Chalayan has a point - the unusual beauty of his clothing is often easily overlooked as too high-brow.

Recent years have seen the development of his main line (lately renamed Chalayan Black), but it was the 2011 launch of Chalayan Grey, a younger, more affordable diffusion line that set fashion press abuzz. The new line simplified his clean design aesthetic and is an effort by the designer to shake off some misconceptions and reach a bigger audience. Then there is a new accessories line launching in Hong Kong stores this December.

"It's inevitable that as a fashion designer you get put in a box by some fashion press particularly when my approach to design is maybe different than other designers," says Chalayan. "But the problem with being called 'avant garde' is that it sounds unapproachable and unwearable, when the majority of our clothes are wearable and I think beautiful and desirable."

That's not to say that Chalayan's talents are going unrecognised. Winning British Designer of the Year twice (in 1999 and 2000), his name carries gravitas in the industry. Even celebrities who wear his dresses on the red carpet are the more serious, cerebral type; the likes of Tilda Swinton, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace and British actress Zawe Ashton.

In 2006 he was awarded the MBE. At only 41, it is an achievement.

Born in Nicosia, Cyprus, his family moved to Britain in 1978. Chalayan studied fashion at the Warwickshire School of Arts and then proceeded to London's Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design.