Raf Simons Quotes

I see myself as a true modernist. Even when I do a traditional gown, I give it a modern twist. I go to the past for research. I need to know what came before so I can break the rules.

The early '90s were an especially marvelous period for fashion, because it was the peak of glamour and there were no limits as to what you could do.

Now is the most exciting time in fashion. Women are controlling their destiny now, the consumer is more knowledgeable, and I have to be better every single day.

In the Sixties, fashion was about liberation. It was about setting women free; it wasn't about being unable to walk.

Basically, my idea and explorations on fashion have not changed; however, I believe I'm going state-of-the-art on fashion.

I mean, the shoe - there is a music to it, there is attitude, there is sound, it's a movement. Clothes - it's a different story. There are a million things I'd rather do before designing clothes: directing, landscaping.

I thought fashion was just the pretext to do images with lots of freedom and get them published in magazines. You could express your point of view, make statements about women and about what you believe in.

I wanted women wearing my sweaters to give the impression they were naked. The aim wasn't to impose outfits but to stay as close as possible to women's bodies and their freedom of movement.

Chanel took women out of corsets and put them into the 'simple little black dress,' the perfectly tailored suit, the bell-bottom sailor pants, and jersey tops.

It's a pity I am so impatient and careless, as any ordinary person could learn all the techniques of photography in a week. It is the democratic art, i.e. technical skill is practically eliminated - the more foolproof cameras become with focusing and exposure gadgets the better - and artistic quality depends only on choice of subject.

With McQueen you have so much at your fingertips. That is what's so incredible about this place. Lee built an amazing house, an English house - and that is very important - where creativity rules, where you can do whatever you want to do for the shows because no one's saying: where's your basic dress, where's your three button jacket?

My clothes are put together out of different basic elements so that a woman can express the way she wants to look, transform, metamorphosize herself not as the woman I decided but as she herself wants to be.

I like to watch the way a model moves in my clothes, the way she gives them life, or if they are wrong, stillborn, the way her life rejects them.

It's kind of hard when your moniker is "bridal" and "evening" for people to understand that I don't run around in a bridal gown all day, nor do I run around in an evening gown. I run around in clothes that resonate for me. I wanted to do those clothes in my ready-to-wear collection - because I don't know how you can be a woman designing for other women and not relate it back to yourself.

I was in Paris, when Kanye [West] was doing his line and I stopped like, "Woah why are you doing womenswear and why do you think you can do it?" He was like, "Why? You don't know what you like to see women in?" I was like, "Yea but still women are so intricate."

When I look at pictures from when I was younger, I think, "Holy crap, what the hell was I wearing?" I've made it a real mission to fully understand what fashion is all about. I love going to these shows because I love seeing creativity. So when I get to meet these fashion designers, I'm kind of like, "Where did you get the idea to make this? What were you thinking?" Some of that stuff is so crazy and loud.

There is something I think we share, which is, of course, an appreciation for Helmut Lang. I think at a certain point he really changed so many things in fashion. I'm a bit younger than Helmut, but from my point of view he provided a true entrance into this new way of thinking - not being invaded into couture.

What's the point in fashion if nobody can wear it?

I don't think there is the same space for fashion designers to create like Yves was doing it. So, it's that he's one of the last, great geniuses in fashion.

I look in my closet, and if I need it, I design it.

Never worry that rote exercises aimed at developing skills will suffocate creativity. At the same time, it's important to recognize that demonstrating great technique is not the same as being creative.

It's a new era in fashion - there are no rules.

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.

The latest fashion… is absolutely necessary for a painting. It’s what matters most.

Women make up one half of society. Our society will remain backward and in chains unless its women are liberated, enlightened and educated.