Top 30 Jason Wu Quotes

When I moved to America, I knew I wanted to be a designer. I never imagined one of my dresses would end up in the Smithsonian.

I’m an American designer. It’s important to riff on that. I remember, when my mom and I first came to the States, she was so shocked that everyone was so dressed down in sandals and shorts. It’s not quite like that in Asia. To give that a superluxurious makeover? For me to make street wear? It’s sort of chic to do it.

I am an Asian designer. I was born in Taiwan. That is who I am. But I am a designer, like any designer of any race. Growing up in the ’80s in Taiwan, the arts were not considered a career.

A lot of my peers don’t think about collaborating the way I do. My approach is to imagine my world. The Jason Wu woman isn’t just floating around in a beautiful dress. I like to know where she’s going, what she likes. I’m not just in the fashion business. I’m in the lifestyle business.

The Taiwanese are big on tea. I think it’s nice to slow down a bit. It’s very much a custom.

I’ve been known to create clothes that are very formfitting and feminine.

I happen to like selling clothes as much as creating them. It isn’t relevant unless it sells.

I think clothing is transformative. When you put something really beautiful on, you feel something. In so many ways, we’re always playing a form of dress-up – it’s just a grown-up, much chicer version of it. It’s nice to be able to be whoever you want to be.

I make very proper clothes. But I was never that person. For a long time, I thought that was the image I needed to have for my brand. And I thought that’s the person that I needed to be. Because it gave me a distinct image that no one can deny.

Brizo has been my single biggest sponsor since I began as a designer. Brizo wanted to be involved in many different areas of design – they had already worked with several architects, and fashion was an area they were interested in moving into.

I made a rule not to be on reality shows.

A lot happened in Vancouver. It was my first Western experience. I learned English, which is my second language. I became very acquainted with Western culture. I had my first sewing machine when I was 9. I trained in fashion illustration when I was in school.

There is always going to be that luxury customer out there. I have clients who buy $10,000 dresses and clients who buy $60 dresses. It’s not so much about the money. Design is a mentality.

That’s the fun thing about fashion: it changes. One day, we’re into short, the next we’re into full length for day, or half short and long.

I worked 10 years as a toy designer before I started my career as a fashion designer. It’s something I just fell into and really liked.

My favorite thing about Taiwan is the food.

I don’t feel comfortable talking about the specifics of how it all comes together, but the truth is, I don’t ever know when Michelle Obama is going to wear my clothes! She, like everyone else, picks her outfits and wears them when she wants – sometimes two or three times. It’s not ever calculated.

I saw my potential as artistic director, which is very different from designer. Fashion companies might have $200 million to $300 million in annual sales – Hugo Boss has €2.5 billion. I have to create a world that is believable and also relevant in 7,000 sales points around the world.

Being feminine in the way you dress doesn’t have to compromise who you are as a woman or your career.

My Chinese zodiac is a dog. But I’m an exception because of how much I love cats.

There’s something to be said about a girl who knows what she wants. One of my favorite girls to dress is Diane Kruger. It’s always so easy with her. I know her body and what works. When it’s right, it’s not a lot of effort.

I’ve always loved the rustic, slightly worn style of Canvas and that element of an artisanal hand. It’s so inherently chic.

My inspirations come from everywhere. It’s important to look at everything and anything. I think what I create is serious fashion, but I don’t want to keep my focus on that. You have to look at a lot of different things. I mean, people are always surprised when they find out that my favorite show is ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race.’

I came from product design originally – I had been designing dolls for a toy company since I was 16 – so I’m used to working with plastic and different things. I had an innate interest in objects.

My mom is a really good cook. We used to make dumplings together.

I dress some of the most successful women in the world, and meeting these women rubs off on you. A few years ago, the woman was someone I imagined in my head. Now they’re real. It’s important my work evolve along with me and that I show more facets of myself.

I have been wanting to do beauty for years and to pair with an international beauty company. It will solidify the image of Jason Wu as a world. All my shows have a distinctive hair and makeup look. It feels so natural for me; the woman who wears my clothes would have my makeup as part of her beauty regime.

I hope I am the antithesis of disposable fashion.

I call white the most powerful non-color; it’s clean, optimistic, powerful.

It’s quite a pure relationship, designer and muse. I think a beautiful dress on the wrong woman could mean nothing. It has to be the right woman and the right clothes. That’s why you need that personal touch.