Dries van Noten

“For me, restrictions are not always negative. Restrictions can push creativity. I like restrictions.”

“One of the big luxuries of being in Antwerp is that I can easily walk in the city. In Paris and New York, I am more recognized.”

“I'm known for color and prints and embroideries.”

“The word 'fashion' I don't like because fashion is something that's over in six months. I'd like to find a word that's more timeless.”

“Clothes is just something you put on to cover yourself... fashion is a way to communicate.”

“In the 1980s, I was quite well known for my knitwear, and a lot of inspiration came from carpets, where I found ways to use structures and colors and depth of colors.”

“All my collections are very personal. It's also because I'm so involved in making the collections.”

“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.”

“I started the company in 1986, but we didn't have the money to do a show until '92.”

“I prefer a scruffy atmosphere.”

“Many a fashion designer's career was founded using packs upon packs of Polaroids, and though we love them, we forget that the image quality was often circumspect.”

“I like it when you have something happening by coincidence. Just something in a book is enough. But I prefer a fragment of an image so you are far more free to bring in elements of your own.”

“We always say that fashion is a reflection of our times.”

“People get this very romantic vision of a fashion designer who in one night makes 25 sketches and in the morning throws them on the table and there are a lot of women in white aprons with the pins on the lapel and they start to grab the sketches and... It's not like that.”

“Coincidence is important, the convergence of different ideas.”

“I prefer to see a good exhibit sponsored by a brand than a bad exhibit due to lack of funds.”

“I love the journeys of research and discovery their development takes me on. I see prints as less 'decorative' than many might, and more fundamental to a garment's core.”

“To create a collection, you need a narrative - an explanation to tell the team.”

“Sometimes, to stimulate your imagination you have to be careful you don't have too much information. You can Google something, and it's in your face, pow! You don't have time to dream any more about it.”

“My partner, Patrick, and I live in an old house in Belgium that was built in 1840 and is out in the countryside between Antwerp and Brussels.”