Chris Benz

“Let me tell you, I'm not sure if America runs on donuts, but I sure do! Nothin' like a little simple sugar icing to get the blood pumping at 9:00 A.M.”

“I remember watching 'The Carol Burnett Show' with my parents as a kid. All those weird outfits she wore, like turtlenecks and long skirts, really stayed in my head.”

“I particularly like Facebook because it straddles the gap between seeing people and not seeing them.”

“I love how New York as an idea is less a paradigm of manifest destiny and more a romance for the social orphans of the world. We live here to be among the towers and the crowds.”

“I always knew I wanted to start my own line. Nights and weekends, I would work on my business plan.”

“I have specific playlists for arrivals in different cities. Tokyo skews new wave, Paris more jazz, and New York is Top 40.”

“I'm always inspired by all of my friends. I aspire to make clothes that my friends would want to wear, that they would gravitate towards anyway.”

“Life in New York is one of succumbing to a tidal wave of control and direction, of numbing oneself to emotion.”

“There is a lack of humor in fashion. To me, it's always been the fun, cool industry to work in, and I always wanted people to be on my side and see how much fun we really have behind the scenes.”

“I interned with Marc Jacobs in college, then worked at J. Crew. I learned a lot about how to fit clothes and what kinds of things sell and why.”

“I have a fleet of Rimowa Topas aluminum suitcases! They're all covered in stickers from around the world.”

“I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where it's all about being comfortable. I try to bring that undercurrent to what I do. It's great to have beautiful, dressed-up clothes that still feel casual.”

“Designers and musicians are primed to keep thinking forward. Once an album or collection launches, you can only think about doing the next one.”

“I went to Parsons. American sportswear was my education, and that is what is important to me.”

“I used to sit in bed at night and flip through design-school catalogs. I found out that Parsons accepted a small number of high school juniors, so I applied my sophomore year and got in.”

“I feel like everyone should dye their hair a weird color. If you hate it, you can just dye it back.”

“I think Seattle has a great sort of luxury and comfort sensibility, which I oftentimes think is lost in fashion for fashion's sake.”

“As a designer looking to the future, you don't want to get lost in the archives.”

“I have no problem with being underdressed.”

“I feel like girls should dress down a little bit on the holidays, even though the instinct is to get really dressed up.”