Awkwardness gives me great comfort. I’ve never been cool, but I’ve felt cool. I’ve been in the cool place, but I wasn’t really cool – I was trying to pass for hip or cool. It’s the awkwardness that’s nice. Fashion to me has become very disposable; I wanted to get back to craft, to clothes that could last. For me, art is about learning and about living with people. It’s alive. I think God is the most fantastic designer. I always loved aesthetics. Not particularly fashion, but an idea of beauty.
I love the 2000s because everyone started to love haute couture. I think it’s the responsibility of a designer to try to break rules and barriers. The market is like a language, and you have to be able to understand what they’re saying. We look our best in subdued colors, sophisticated cuts, and a general air of sleek understatement. I try as much as possible to give you a great basic product and what comes out, I feel, is really amazing.
My breakfast is very important. Today, I’m very happy about myself, because I realized my dreams. I learned how to understand what people want. There are only three things I can do – make a dress, decorate a house, and entertain people. I think in the darkest moments, we need a break. It’s really easy to get colors right. It’s really hard to get black – and neutrals – right. Black is certainly a color but it’s also an illusion.
I don’t try to be in fashion; I don’t try to follow trends. You just end up out of fashion that way. Everything I do is a matter of heart, body and soul. Those fashion designers are just crazy; but aren’t we all? Luxury will be always around, no matter what happens in the world. I design from instinct. It’s the only way I know how to live. What feels good. What feels right. What is needed. Give me a problem and I will approach it creatively, from my gut.
Give me time and I’ll give you a revolution. Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity. Men have got more of a discerning eye. They appreciate cut and details, things that aren’t so obvious. They like things that have cachet and gentlemanliness. What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today when human contacts go so fast. Fashion is instant language. The difference between style and fashion is quality.