Alessandro Michele

“I'm obsessed with trompe l'oeil - the idea of something that is existing and is not existing.”

“My apartment is full of antique pieces, but I put everything together like a modern installation.”

“I have something inside of me that every day tells me that nature and beauty is the soul, the meaning, of our life. And I also love Hollywood and cinema.”

“Your memory is not my memory.”

“I never wanted to be a creative director.”

“I always explain through images and characters what fashion means, and describing scent is almost the same. It can be very powerful. It can really change the perspective a person has of you.”

“The idea of my fashion shows is that you can't understand where you are; it's something surreal.”

“Beauty has no boundaries, no rules, no colors. Beauty is like a religion. You can include everything inside it.”

“Trees and flowers are so important. The idea of blooming is the idea of becoming something different.”

“It seems only natural to me to present my men's and women's collections together.”

“Fashion should be genderless; how people perceive the idea of beauty can vary from one to another.”

“I like it when I see people dressed on the street, and it looks like Gucci, but it's not. It means you are doing something right.”

“I think that there is not really a difference between a 'Peanuts' and a beautiful Renaissance painting. There is something very romantic in the 'Peanuts' - it's at the same level of a novel or a Jane Austen story or a beautiful embroidered rose fabric. It is a piece of romanticism.”

“I think that fashion, for a long time, has been in a prison. Without freedom. I think that without freedom, with rules, it's impossible to create a new story.”

“I think a lot of people feel that they want something softer. Things are changing. It's about individuality, and in a way, it's romantic.”

“I think if you work with different kinds of codes, attitudes, in the end you have a language. It's like within a person. You are not always the same.”

“I hate to plan my life.”

“Fashion is the most beautiful illusion you can have.”

“I don't feel the pressure of the market - otherwise, I wouldn't be able to work.”

“If you have rules, you let creativity sleep.”