I like things that are well cut, things that are considered within their detailing. Fabrics that are very developed; specialist jacquards and prints. My clothes are statement pieces. They're decorative, but there's always a subversiveness or an othersidedness to them.

The biggest challenge and the thing I find most enjoyable about being a designer is taking everything in and assimilating it for your perspective, hopefully making it relevant and interesting to people.

I like using odd materials or odd components for embroideries. I've always liked that Elsa Schiaparelli world of playing with unusual objects to make something really beautiful. That's part of the game. We can do things that are lighthearted and playful but we also do things that are quite dark and sinister. I oscillate between the two.

In the end, we all are who we are, no matter how much we may appear to have changed.

I don't ever think about being a straight man in fashion. It's fine from my perspective. There are a lot of straight men in fashion, believe it or not. But it's fine. Journalists seem to be really interested in it.

My recent drawings that personal ones aren't fashion-related. I sometimes sit and draw people on the bus, or some fantasy hybrid animal. You know, wherever the hand will lead.

Katie Grand often comes in from a very different angle than what I've been thinking about. And that really gives it that extra something, because designers can often get stuck in their own view of how the collection can look. I always love the way that she turns it into something else and I kind of let go at that point.