Learning from the Best

Ford.

“As a fashion designer, I was always aware that I was not an artist, because I was creating something that was made to be sold, marketed, used, and ultimately discarded.” –Tom Ford

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“Style without substance is too Warholian; five minutes of fun, and ready for the bin… style needs substance – even when an incredible substance has no style, who the fuck cares! We crave for great substance.” –Jean Touitou of APC

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“The success of the product is based on the personality of the person in charge. I don’t believe in something that is done just for numbers or by business people. It doesn’t work like that. Fashion doesn’t work like that. It’s like a recipe for cooking. It has to be something that comes from the soul. And sometimes I’m afraid that can be destructive because it’s difficult to be naked in front of people and say, “This is who I am. This is what I do. This is what I believe, and I want you to like what I do.” It’s difficult. It makes you fragile.” –Milan Vukmirovic, formerly of Trussardi

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“Imperfection is never a mistake; it is a sign of humanity. You must break the codes, break the perfection. Never pay attention to rules.” –Lino Ieluzzi of Al Bazaar

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“There are so many fashion shows during fashion week, and the fashion show has almost become theater. It’s all about the wow factor. And it’s easy to make a name when you’re shocking people all the time. But when you just make really, really great clothes, it can be difficult to get press and build a brand. What you do when you pare things back and make something timeless, though, is build a foundation to have a longer career and a stronger clientele. To make a perfect T-shirt is hard—all you have is white cotton and fit.” –Simon Spurr

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“Your vision is very important. You should know whom you’re selling to, what your marketing and advertising says about you, and whom it’s speaking to. Me personally, I don’t try to please everyone. I understand who I am selling to and I work towards that vision all the time.” –Ralph Lauren

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“I don’t think that my fashion can change the world at all, But I know that great clothes can make you feel so good and cool. If you wear the right thing and walk out of the door knowing that you look great, it can really change your day. To make people feel like that should be the aim of every designer” –Robert Geller

Yamamoto.

“Fashion has lost respect of clothing My job is to regain the respect for clothing. Merchandising and advertising have become too powerful, too dominant during the last few years. I say: Wait a moment, slow down!” –Yohji Yamamoto

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“British fashion is self confident and fearless. It refuses to bow to commerce, thus generating a constant flow of new ideas whilst drawing in British heritage.” –Alexander McQueen

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“I meet a lot of young designers now and they’re so talented but they lack the life skills you need to make money. When I started my clothes were quite particular and I knew I wouldn’t sell a lot, so I only opened on Fridays and Saturdays. For the rest of the week I rolled up my sleeves and did shitty jobs – styling, or just borrowing a mate’s Transit van to go selling suits – so I could keep the shop pure. So many people today only want the purity and wonder why they go bankrupt. You’ve got to have a balance between image-making and rent-paying.” –Sir Paul Smith

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“I like my clothing with character. Things that have been lived in – imperfect and with stories. I don’t mind if it’s too small. I don’t mind if it’s too big. One thing I hate, though, is the perfect length.” –Andy Spade of Partners & Spade

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“A good model can advance fashion by ten years.” –Yves Saint Laurent

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“Like all entrepreneurs in the beginning, lack of funding, lack of access is always going to be the key. Problem-solving skills to a successful entrepreneur is always a must-have. You always do it with very little—the ability to overcome major obstacles, at the same time being passionate about it. The instinct—that’s something that I think is hard to teach somebody.” –David Chu formerly of Nautica and currently of David Chu Bespoke

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“What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language.” –Miuccia Prada

Browne.

“As a designer, I’m supposed to be provoking people’s reactions, and getting people to see things differently. I think more of us should be doing this. Because yeah, maybe guys are not gonna want to wear my stuff, but they’ll think that they can maybe wear something a little bit more than what they’ve been wearing. That’s the only way things move forward.” –Thom Browne

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“At the end, it’s not about disguising people. It’s about showing people who they are and their personality with clothes.” –Dries van Noten

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“Everyone, if they could, would customize everything around them. I don’t know if I have the talent for that, but I certainly have the desire. In this way, architecture surpasses fashion. It’s totalizing, and once you get to that point, you wouldn’t even want to deal with clothes. Designing clothes is the first step—it’s the baby step towards architecture.” –Rick Owens

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“I start with something perfectly designed and executed, then spend a lot of time knocking the edge off of that perfection.” –Michael Bastian

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“Craft is fantastic, but if you make an object only from a perspective of craft, it becomes decorative and vain. You have to have an idea of the purpose and ultimate goal. It is what we strive for in every segment that we are in, from fragrances to ready-to-wear to watches: to have authenticity of purpose!” –Pierre-Alexis Dumas of Hermes

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“Luxury isn’t about spending the most money, it’s about having what no one else does.” –Jenna Lyons of J. Crew