The more people that are afraid when they see new creation, the happier I am. I think the media has some responsibility to bear for people becoming more conservative. Many parts of the media have created the situation where uninteresting fashion can thrive.

I don't feel too excited about fashion today People just want cheap fast clothes and are happy to look like everyone else

In Comme des Garçons, I hardly do any sketches; there's no fittings on bodies, there's no models that come in and say, "Oh, a little bit like this." In the beginning, there isn't even a theme. It's like getting the whole world at your feet - to empty your mind of everything that's ever happened before, to get an empty space.

In the '70s, if anything, it was a more interesting time in fashion. It was a time when things were changing, especially in London.

I work in three shades of black.

Fashion is not art. The aims of fashion and art are different and there is no need to compare them.

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.