Zitat des Tages von Raf Simons:
My mother was a cleaning lady all her life.
I'd like to see fashion slow down a bit. What freaks me out about fashion today is the speed - the speed of consuming, the speed of ideas. When fashion moves so fast, it takes away something I always loved, which is the idea that fashion should be slightly elusive. Hard to grasp, hard to find.
We all know and we all perceive Christian Dior in a very specific way.
Fashion is such an octopus. You're connected to so many people: suppliers, pattern makers, production teams, marketing teams, vendors.
In the nineties, it was common to see people who expressed themselves through one designer - the Jil Sander woman, the Martin Margiela woman. You saw her on the street, and you knew who she was.
I'm not an isolated person. The more I connect to people, the more I have the feeling that things work.
L.A. interests me, the whole band scene and relaxed carefree feel, but it does not mean you have to dress like a hippy.
I like very much to put on fashion shows.
I never really have to sit at a desk thinking, 'What should I do now?' It doesn't work like that for me, and it never has. My thinking process is constant.
I'm a designer, and for me, things are always evolving, and such evolution is necessary.
I don't have so many things in the fashion world that interest me. It's probably because I am so deeply into it. Often when you go very deep into something, you also discover what it's about, and you understand it better. With the art world, I still have a lot of curiosity.
In fashion design, you can divide people into two groups. You have people who come with an aesthetic that is there forever, even if it evolves. Then you have people I call 'jumpers.' One season it can be this; the next season it's completely something else. I always knew I am more of a jumper.
Computers let people avoid people, going out to explore. It's so different to just open a website instead of looking at a Picasso in a museum in Paris.
I find it fascinating to see the fact that women want to buy things that they see on men.
My point of view is that if I love a certain kind of beauty, I want more of that beauty. I don't need 200 different beauties.
You can instantly spot a Chanel woman, so I want to develop the Dior woman.
The Chanel woman? I don't even need to see; I smell her from round the corner.
I fantasise about what the future could be in terms of aesthetic and psychology. It's the most difficult thing to do because you have to start from the past - your favourite architect, your favourite song - you take it all with you.
There are people who, if they see something in couture that they perceive as ready-to-wear, they're in shock.
I know this independence is what people like most about my brand.
Fashion has a long interest in collaborative situations.
I couldn't go now to a brand that had a niche attitude like... gothic. I couldn't do that. Well, I could do it, but I wouldn't find it interesting, challenging.
The fashion world doesn't know the word 'stop,' so you have to make sure there are sublime moments every day.
Fashion is so mass-produced now; I hope there will come a refocus on how people see couture. And I would also hope for a new focus on the craft.
We Belgians love when we can go to L.A. because the city is amazing and the climate is fantastic.
Unlike fashion, art isn't applied. It doesn't have to serve anybody. It doesn't have to be there for any other reason than to give an impression of what the world is about.
Our society wants things to grow, and our society wants things to become bigger and bigger. Everything has to be put under the spotlight.
I am always attracted to the moments when a person who is associated with a certain message, image or sensibility evolves. I am very interested in how audiences respond to that maturation and absorb the evolution.
I was growing up in the New Wave period, but that wasn't allowed in school. I remember moments when they wouldn't let four people dressed in black stand together on the playground.
I'm fascinated by the way Diane Arbus saw things. She came from this fashion background and then twisted it.
I'm very scared sometimes that fashion might attack its own magic by the amount of exposure.
One of the first things I picked up when I was very, very young out of a record store was work from Peter Saville - the early things he used to do for Factory Records.
My whole life, I've always had to be surrounded by creative things. I find it relaxing to be in touch with creations by other people.
I am somebody who focuses on a dialogue between generations - that's the drive of my work. I believe the young generation take the power; they'll take over at one point, but the older generation, they'll push it away only because of the fear. I'm the opposite; I'm curious.
My inspiration is endless; I can't define it. It is a constant flow and evolution. In general, I'm taking it from everywhere. People get nervous when they walk with me, as I'll see something and suddenly have to text it to myself.
