I'm trying to not follow fashion. I don't even like the word. But I do like clothes, and I like nicely cut clothes that last and that are built to be worn for the next 30 years.
Buy less, buy better, and really wear it.
Some days I'm very lazy, and some days I'm more inspired. I've got things I've had since I was fifteen - I don't throw anything away. I prefer to give it to a friend so I can wear it again...The way I dress doesn't necessarily have to do with fashion, or what is current, or what is in right now, it's more about rediscovering things.
Why shouldn't we want everybody to have a piece of Giles in their wardrobe?
I'm focusing on quality versus quantity - a nicer tee-shirt with organic cotton and buying just one or two instead of five that are cheaper but made with GMO cotton, which is hard on Earth, sewn by slave labor, shipped all the way from China on boats that use lots of oil and can kill whales with ship strikes and sold by (some) companies that could treat their
Only buy clothes that you plan to keep forever. It's important to see trends for what they are: a game.
I like a lot of independent brands - Melbourne's Kloke, Handsom and Neuw Denim, and Bassike in Sydney. It's easier to be proud of what you're wearing if you've met the people behind the brand and there's more of a personal story.
Buy less. Choose well. Make it last. Quality, not quantity. Everybody's buying far too many clothes.
My New Year's style resolution is to buy and wear more clothing that is handmade by artisans or eco-friendly.
I want my clothes to have a life and then end up in a secondhand store, where some cool girl discovers them 20 years later. If the runway or red carpet is the only life clothes have, it's sad.
I think it's cooler when girls have favorite pieces of clothing rather than an entirely new wardrobe every few months.
If something is good, it doesn't go out of style every six months. The fashion wheel of today doesn't have to go as quickly as it was pushed in the 80's.
It takes eight to nine months for a Berluti client to get a pair of custom-made shoes and it's fine. I was always against see now/buy now, as I don't think it's relevant to what we do and is not a good image of luxury.
I don't think fashion has to change every five minutes. I'd like these to be clothes you can wear for a long time - ten, 20 years; pass on to your daughter. Why buy vintage when you can open your own closet!
I'm a really big advocate of ethical fashion. I actually have a travelling boutique called Maison de Mode, which is all about ethical fashion. I also like Maiyet from Paris. They're very Celine-esque in their silhouettes. I love their back story, too: they work with orphans in Colombia and India.
I don't regard clothing as disposable, which is probably why I have so much of it!
When I get very stressed, I make jam. I like things that produce a quick result, because fashion has such a long lead time. With jam, you start, and two-three hours later, you have 36 little pots, all full.
What I'm always trying to say to the consumer is: buy less, choose well, make it last.
I like to wear things for longer than one season.
Fashion is so mass-produced now; I hope there will come a refocus on how people see couture. And I would also hope for a new focus on the craft.
I'm not one of those people that wears something once and tosses it aside. I wear my shoes until they beg to be thrown away. Parting is such sweet sorrow - and then it's onto the next pair.
I do try and wear stuff by unknown designers, and I make sure I pay because if nothing else I have money.
I'd like to think we can make a nice, glowing change to British dressing.
I have a soft spot for cashmere - even though that is not a particularly sustainable fabric, I do invest in quality, so it is sustainable in the sense that it is not just throwaway fashion and I keep it for a long, long time.
Even though I avoid buying clothes that are 'in fashion', choosing things I fall in love with and wearing them till they fall apart - and generally going for vintage when it comes to evening wear - I still, like every woman I know, suffer from occasional pangs of 'clothes guilt'.
