Giles Deacon

“I try to exercise three to four times a week.”

“I'm interested in women who have got character and experience and an opinion about things.”

“I go to contemporary galleries all around the world when I can. There's always something historical and something contemporary; those are my rock references.”

“I can never really comment on rumours.”

“I really like doing good work and working with good people - that's the thing that drives me.”

“Clothes that a wallflower would like, that's not my thing. I like people who look interesting.”

“My designs at Ungaro are a lot more sexual, in more of an obvious way: my personal designers are a little bit more sideways.”

“Single-sex private schools, especially in the middle of nowhere on a bleak hill in County Durham - I don't think they make sense.”

“I've always liked historic jewellery that's got a kind of quirkiness or playfulness to it; I like that it's not too serious.”

“I like to have a swim in the morning, a great way to start the day.”

“People should just get over themselves.”

“A healthy body really does make for a healthy mind.”

“I didn't set out wanting to be a fashion designer from the age of 3. It wasn't that kind of dream.”

“Due to the hectic, non-stop nature of my work, I'm always using my BlackBerry to stay in touch with my studio, wherever I am.”

“Everybody's got a lot to their personalities. You're not just one element. There are some days you want something that can be a bit stricter or a bit more disciplined or something a bit more floaty and a bit freer.”

“I liked the fact DAKS was an unknown quantity. It's more like Gucci before Tom Ford got there. There's a lot you can do.”

“We want to be the go-to business for super-special daywear and eveningwear, to focus on what we are known for and what our customers want from us.”

“Fashion designers seem the busiest people on the planet.”

“Cecil Beaton was Andy Warhol before Andy Warhol, really.”

“People are often a bit more adventurous with swimming costume prints; they like the idea of something a bit more jolly.”