Nicolas Ghesquiere Quotations

I promised myself: Before your 18th birthday, you're going to be at Jean Paul Gaultier. And it worked. I was hired.

Never forget that what becomes timeless was once truly new.

I'm always very stressed about making a new proposition every season. But in a way, it's a kind of addiction.

Of course I live in my time, and I'm really curious. But, at the same time, I don't think it has a direct impact on my work.

With my designs and my ideas, I want to please myself first.

In terms of design, it's true the world has an influence. But, as a designer, you have to protect yourself. You have to look at the world and then forget it.

Actually, I love golf clothes! I think this is the most interesting part of golf!

People used to define me as a futurist designer, but, you know, the future is now for me.

There are people I've worked with who have never understood how fashion works. They keep saying they love fashion, yet they've never actually grasped that this isn't yoghurt or a piece of furniture - products in the purest sense of the term.

Your priority has to be the creativity - and build a brand. That's what everybody did - Balenciaga, Dior, Saint Laurent. That's the smart thing to do.

I think the golden age of couture had some of the most incredible customers: women like Nan Kempner and all the icons.

What I find most interesting in fashion is that it has to reflect our time. You have to witness your own moment.

I grew up in a family that played golf, and my brother was much better than me, so I kind of put that aside. I had to be good at something other than golf.

In this work, you have to convince everyone all the time, at different levels, to support your dream. I learned you have to be confident in order to do that.

I do love science-fiction and horror movies.

I put pressure on myself to propose something new - I think it's the minimum that you can do as a fashion designer.

More than anything, I'm designing for a woman of today. I want to be a witness of my time.

For a long time, my uniform consisted of a trench coat, wide flared jeans, and little bottines - I copied a pair that my mother had in this theater place. I had, like, 10 pairs of the same shoes.

I grew up with the idea that once you found yourself with your clothes, why change?

You need something that puts a little distance between what you really are and what you want to show; it's a shield, a protection.

I remember Grace (Coddington) looking at me and said, 'Can you do something?' and I was like, 'OK, how long do you give me?' and she said 'Half an hour?', I said 'Forty-five minutes?'

I'd rather work with someone who likes what I do than create something for the red carpet that won't make me happy.

You never do things thinking you will make a big statement. It just happens sometimes and you are lucky.

Fashion is a playground up until a certain age. But then you have to find your own signature and your own style.