My ideas for the next collection always happen a couple of months before the show. I have learned to shut up and not bother my assistants with it.

When artists connect to a system because they want to make a living, it's their own choice. In fashion, designers don't have that choice. I know everybody mentions Azzedine Alaïa, but he's been going for a long time in the system - showing to people, selling to clients - and I think it's admirable how he's transformed it into his own system in a way, but it's still a system.

I know this independence is what people like most about my brand.

Becoming a fashion designer is agreeing with the fact that what you experience or what you see as free is also connected to a system. Does that mean giving up your freedom? I still don't know the answer. There's a very different kind of psychology going on in the fashion scene than in art.

Camouflage is about much more than concealment and going unnoticed. There's a whole game involved between revealing and hiding.

I find it fascinating to see the fact that women want to buy things that they see on men.

Fashion is such an octopus. You're connected to so many people: suppliers, pattern makers, production teams, marketing teams, vendors.