My energy comes from freedom and a rebellious spirit.

I've always said that growing up in postwar Japan, I never felt any connection to my work through those experiences. The work I do really comes from inside myself. For me, being born in Japan was an accident.

I identified very much with punk, not only in the fashion sector, but in every other sector. The very nature of doing something new and free meant something that was against authority.

I'd make my whole collection with just one square of fabric. I wouldn't do anything else; everything had to be made from one square. This is just one example.

My energy comes from freedom and a rebellious spirit.

There's always a pattern in order to make a thing, but the starting point must be something I've never seen before. It's not two-dimensional, but it's like a sample. I work with patterns like a sculptor. I try to get [the team] not to work on a body, [but] to work on a free space, on a table. The work is basically on flat surfaces.

Comme des Garcons is a gift to oneself, not something to appeal or to attract the opposite sex