I'm making bags that don't even have a seam. But many people don't get that. They run through the showroom and go, "He did yellow bags this season." That's fine. Not everything needs to be visible to everyone. But personally, that's what makes my work interesting to me. The whole fashion thing is not that interesting to me. The overall circus is not my universe.
Tomas MaierAndrew Preston and I moved to Florida, to get some air. Am I going to live there forever? No, I'm not. But I have a warehouse, all white, concrete floors, a big, big space with very high ceilings and nothing inside. And that's where I go to work, and I like that because I just like to be alone and quiet. Is it explainable as a typical fashion designer? No. But am I a typical fashion designer? I don't think so.
Tomas MaierWalk your dogs on the beach that's my luxury. The food's not so good in West Palm, but you can't have it all.
Tomas MaierThere's another little vision in my life, going into a restaurant in New York years ago: All the women are sitting in their little strapless dresses with their cleavage, and there's this one woman in a sleeveless turtleneck and pants. And I can tell you that every man in that restaurant looked at that woman's arms. It was hypnotizing when everything was covered up. Just the face, the conversation - and you see the arms. And the arms and the hands become an obsession. I like that.
Tomas MaierThe It Bag is a totally marketed bullshit crap. You make a bag, you put all the components in it that you think could work, you send it out to a couple of celebrities, you get the paparazzi to shoot just when they walk out of their house. You sell that to the cheap tabloids, and you say in a magazine that there's a waiting list. And you run an ad campaign at the same time. I don't believe that's how you make something that's lasting - that becomes iconic as a design.
Tomas Maier