Though I’m a fashion designer, I never stuff my luggage with too many items.
I was a frustrated musician, frustrated designer, frustrated art director, frustrated novelist, right. I’d fail at all these different professions.
It takes a real designer to design for real women.
I love lots of designers. I will always love Vivienne Westwood; she is a legendary designer.
I ended up going to do a matches program at the state for industrial design. And from there, I got hired at IDEO to joint their design team there – and basically, you are starting as an industrial designer to design products – and then kept asking the question, ‘What else can design accomplish? What else can design do?’
A designer is like a doctor for a woman. He has a specific job, and if he is doing it well, he will have the gratitude of the woman for the rest of his life.
I’d love to go to fashion week! I’m learning more about designers, thanks to ‘Pretty Little Liars’ costume designer, Mandi Line.
I’m a designer, I love it, and I haven’t worked this hard to do bad work.
I wear everything from hip-hop baggy pants to beautiful Armani dresses. I also like to mix vintage clothing with designer pieces.
Everyone wants to be a designer.
Well I think any designer that can understand what people need to be wearing right now is the biggest and best step that you can take. Instead of putting your ego first, you put the buyer first. And I think that that’s a really important thing just to know what the consumer is wanting to wear.
I wanted to be a shoe designer, but I never thought it could be a profession. But what was the alternative? Doctor? Too dirty! Air-hostess? Maybe not! Then someone gave me a book on Roger Vivier, and, cheri, instantly I knew that was it!
Earlier in my career, I needed to be the writer, casting director, set designer, leading man, and producer. I’ve been eliminating a lot of those jobs. I’m an executive producer right now. I still get to pick the best screenplays.
We were the first multibrand platform for the customization of designer clothing. And it’s great to be a first mover if you manage to pull it off. You can have a great competitive advantage. But if you’re quite early, you’re learning a lot: both learning as a company, and the customer is still learning.
We don’t have to eat the best food to survive: a basic diet will get us through. We wear clothes to stay warm and hide our modesty, they don’t need to be the latest designer collection.
I am not a designer that buys vintage to be inspired.
Designer labels, throughout the history of fashion, have maintained an air of exclusivity around themselves. Call it hype, criticize it if you will. But fashion has used this ‘exclusive’ tag to make itself coveted.
I was so fortunate to work closely with the designer Nolan Miller whilst on ‘Dynasty’ to create the wardrobe for Alexis Carrington Colby, and we had great fun sourcing outfits.
I think, as a designer, what you have to do is challenge yourself to do what you do, but better.
I would tell any aspiring designer to take the time to experience everything they can to really get a feel for what direction they want to go in. And most importantly, let your passion and your gut lead you.
I have often been criticised for doing an about-face from one season to the next – as has my wonderfully inspiring lady designer whom I love so much, Miuccia Prada – but that is what I love about fashion.
Amazon can afford to lose money for years on its fashion offerings. But when, if you’re a designer or a retailer, fashion is your bread and butter then you can’t.
I think of myself more as a designer than a serial entrepreneur. As a designer, the easiest way to see that something happens is to start a company and then be the boss, and then people have to do what you say.
There are a ton of A-list stars I’d love to dress – fashionistas like Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson. Also, Cate Blanchett would be fun and fabulous. My picks vary by the day and how I’m feeling. But, as a new, young designer, I’m open to working with everyone!
You see me, I wanted to be fashion designer. I became fashion designer. So I think that everything is possible.
It’s very, very difficult to reinvent yourself when you’re 40 or 50, whether you are a taxi driver who now needs to become a web designer, or anything else. It just becomes more difficult and more scary.
For a ‘GOT’ premiere, I wore a white dress by Antonio Berardi, which fitted beautifully. And I felt empowered by the Jenny Packham gown I wore for ‘The Last Witch Hunter’ premiere. That is the beauty of the designer – to help a woman or man feel that way.
I’m an interior designer, first and foremost. I can do one thing really well, and I’m going to stay in my little niche.
We sell in Moda Operandi, which, if you don’t know what it is, it’s a beautiful luxury site that does pre-trunk shows for designer collections. We got them to change their algorithm online to go up to a size 24.
I’m a writer slash designer slash TV personality.
I was never a hugely successful theatre designer. I painted a lot of scenery and did the lighting, and my lighting business grew out of that.
I wanted to give things away or sell them somewhere, but I realized that some of the pieces are so special – limited editions, designer gifts – and needed to be appreciated. When I started my own charity foundation and was looking to raise money, I was like, ‘Boom. That’s it!’
My parents met in the theatre, and I thought that was so romantic. My dad was a scenic designer and my mom was a dancer, and that’s how they met; they met in the theatre.
My favourite designer is Mulberry – their bags are lovely, but their clothes are amazing, I don’t think people realise. I love D&G, Fendi, Moschino, Chanel, Armani – all the classics!
I don’t design. I get what I think is a big idea, and I put the idea down. I’m not a designer. I’m a communicator.
We were both very much the same. We were both very impulsive. We both loved life. We both loved shopping. We both had a love of clothes, obviously, because he was the designer that I kind of wore forever and ever.
I am not the kind of designer who is racing to the finish line, so while collaborations are important for our growth, each and every one has to be strategic and well-timed with what we have going on internally.
Lekha Washington is a very successful, award-winning product designer, and her company has made some fantastic products in the past few years. Comments from some men calling her ‘failure’ makes me laugh, really.
Pyrex Vision’s first season was, for me, an expression of myself as an artist first, designer second.
When I was a kid, I really wanted to be a writer and an artist when I grew up. So in college, I was an English major, and then I became a fine artist. But when I arrived in San Francisco in 1995, I figured I could leverage my artistic skills by becoming a Web designer and programmer.
I got a New York designer to build my dream store here, which is a little bit of Florence in New York. It’s like the Duomo on Madison. I got inspired by Santa Maria Novella and all the Renaissance architecture.
Each individual garment has its own customizations based on a collaboration between us and the designer. We say what we think our woman wants, and they say, ‘This is what we think we can do with our production.’
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.
Steve Jobs changed my life. He also changed the life of every designer.
When I graduated from Parsons School of Design, the dean at that time said I would never be a designer. Obviously I didn’t listen.
I am a bit in love with a new designer, George Hobeika; I have worn him a couple of times on the carpet. Ralph Lauren is another one I really have fun with.
But I’m not crazy about the designers like Prada and Gucci. I hate going into designer stores.
In terms of design, it’s true the world has an influence. But, as a designer, you have to protect yourself. You have to look at the world and then forget it.
To work on the competition wear for the Olympics is kind of insane. As a fashion designer, you don’t think to yourself, ‘I’m going to get the opportunity to work with athletes at that level at the Olympic Games.’ It really is such an incredible thing to have any kind of contact with as a designer.
I’ve spent some time working with a non-Italian designer; I’ve been helping him organize fashion shows, the advertising, also helping with the creative part. But the great part about this work is that I am no one!
I will never see myself as a businessman. I’m a designer. I have to be true to what I believe.
I don’t consider myself a fashion designer.
You could be an 18-year-old girl in Tokyo wondering how you could ever break into fashion or beauty, so you follow your favourite designer or editor, see what their day comprises, where they go, who they meet, how they do it… If I were setting up my own label today, I would definitely do it through Instagram.
What I love about Tadashi is that he isn’t a designer that designs only for a double-zero. He designs for double-Ds, you know? Women of all shapes and sizes can wear him.
