Great fashion is all about surprise. It should always be about doing something that isn't by the book.
When a silhouette or shape is as beautiful as it is functional and relevant, that's true luxury.
In design I look for something I'm drawn to. I try to look for an immediate connection with something - something I just fall in love with. I feel if people have to explain to you why it's good, it's not so good.
If clothes can help you see yourself on your best day, why shouldn't every day be that day?
I feel lucky to love what I do. It doesn't feel like working. I do all the projects I do because I like doing them, whether it's a book or a photo shoot. For me, my work and my life are the same.
I'm attracted to that mix of things that are very refined and polished, and things that are almost accidental. I feel like the best things happen when you're on the path to making something, even if where you end up is not where you thought you would.
Fashion for me is the perfect combination of all the things I love. There's an element of history to it. I love understanding why people wear what they wear, why during certain periods in history women looked the way they looked. There was always a strong reason behind it, whether it was because of what was available to them or because of what was happening in the world politically or sociologically. Fashion is like an amazing blend of commerce, travel, and creativity - of studying what people were about during a particular time.
I don't want to have a singular vision. I don't have that kind of discipline. I love the randomness of my life - how I have five, six, seven projects going on at one time.
Having your own store is one of the most immediate ways to connect with the customer, to really get to know her and develop a more intimate relationship.
One can never have too many books.
Being a photographer helps me see the work differently. I always walk away seeing things differently than when I stare at them myself. It gives me a little distance. So I love photography, but it also helps me tell the story. When I shoot the ad campaign for my work, it allows me to be much more direct.
I think sometimes you get too caught up in the business side, and you make compromises, and then the brand becomes unexciting. I think in the early stages you have to be bold. You have to define yourself. Everyone wants to understand who you are and why you're here. I think the best brands are forever surprising people.
I think of my life as divided between a lot of different periods. I grew up in the country, but as I got older I became more of an urban person. That's really when I started to become more of a creative person who was interested in fine arts, painting, drawing, and music. I studied jazz for a long time. Looking back, all those things were great training.
I think it's so important that you understand what you're trying to accomplish, what you're trying to say. Timelessness is never a thing I think about. If you try to make things timeless, you can end up with things that are neither exciting nor timeless. It's sort of like aiming for the middle in a way. At the same time, I never want to have to use the word trendy because it's not really what interests me. That's something that is gone tomorrow.
I think fashion is the only thing I'm fully suited to do because I am super impatient, which I think is a good thing for fashion. I could never work on something for two years. I would do 20 things and finish none of them. I always admire people who have that ability to sustain something for that long a period.
The collection under my name is an exciting opportunity to really express my own aesthetic and connect with a very different consumer.
Museums that aren't perfect are the ones that I love. Museums that aren't overdesigned. I always like to visit the strange, odd museums. In New York, the Frick is absolutely my favorite, favorite place because I like to think that it was someone's home not that long ago.
