I based the general features on a New York model named Sarah Ziff, although she doesn’t model anymore. I always thought she was gorgeous and very warm. I like that the mannequins engage with the space. They are watering an olive grove, painting the walls, cleaning the glass, writing on the wall. It was quite a nice way of baptizing the space. Half of the show was originally shown four years ago at the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands, while the other half is new. I liked the idea that wherever the mannequins go, they interact with the new space in unique ways. Obviously there are new editions of the mannequin for my newer work, such as the wind dresses (pictured left), the parachute dresses and the laser and LED dresses.

Despite receiving several design awards, representing Turkey at the 51st Venice Biennale with a film collaboration with Tilda Swinton, and even being awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for service to the British fashion industry, you remain your own harshest critic.

I didn’t need to be inaugurated by the Queen. That’s something you do for the mothers and grandmothers. I didn’t know on what merit it was based, which made it kind of meaningless to me, but on the other hand it's not.

You never stop and rest on your laurels. Can you at least recognize that you've created an amazing body of work?

The work is never done. I can recognize there is amazing work, but I see my pieces as prototypes for further development. I want to develop the LED fabric as a proper fabric, not just a prototype. I want dresses that you can change the shape of so that the changes are ingrained in the fabric. I think my progress has been step by step.

Fall '02

How are you finding the process of working with Puma? How much of your own world do you bring to it?

I bring in aspects of my world that I think are appropriate and also aspects that have nothing to do with my world, but that I think are appropriate for Puma. I am their creative director, not their designer. I give them ideas. So far Puma is recognized as a footwear company. They have created an identity through their footwear and not through their clothes. I am trying to create an identity for their clothes as well. Sportswear-lifestyle companies invest far more in technology than fashion labels, which is very exciting. I am not partnering with a company such as Givenchy, which would have been more in conflict with my own line.

You've had so many revolutionary ideas, some of which you couldn’t realize due to financial restrictions, and others that you realized in spite of them. Does being involved with Puma enable you to realize some of your bigger ambitions?

The partnership with Puma is one of the best things to happen to us! It’s given us the opportunity to expand my brand, to go into new product categories, to open stores—not in a big way, but in some capacity.

To have a showcase for your vision…

I need stores to create a lab where women can try on clothes and integrate them into their lives, rather than just look at them on the catwalk and at museums. We do sell internationally and in very good stores, but still quite exclusively. This way we can reach more people. There is nothing wrong in experimental work reaching more people. You don’t have to be commercial to reach people. I think the word commercial is really misused anyway. As long as your clothes are wearable, they are commercial. Look at how Comme des Garçons and Martin Margiela have done it. They built their own empires and never cared about the fashion discourse. I can see from them that it's possible to build on your own ideas without being flavor-of-the-month. This is where the museum show is important. It shows that I have my own universe. One garment in one room, then five garments in another, then a film and so on.

Many of your ideas have found their way into the work of other very important designers, yet this is seldom acknowledged. You must surely recognize those influences.

I think there are more designers who reference our lesser-known work than our more monumental work, which is why it often goes undetected. When a design is copied, it is flattery, but when a designer's approach is copied, then it is scary. When someone else gets into your head and starts to think in the way you think, this is scary and disconcerting. For instance, if another designer starts to think that they want to have aerodynamic shapes with tulle spurting out, or they start mixing the organic and the mechanical, or they include mechanical inserts into their work the way I have always done, this is disturbing.

I also sense a lot of humor and light-heartedness in your work. When I saw your father at the after-party, tearing up the dance floor and getting all the women to dance with him, I thought perhaps these qualities came from him.