Michael Bastian

“Just being out in the world gives me ideas.”

“People talk to me about celebrities all the time and which ones do I admire, and it's so hard because you can't tell who's doing it for themselves and who hired a stylist.”

“Men and women shop very differently, and where women are open to edgy, conceptual looks, very, very few men are.”

“When I began designing my Spring '13 collection, it wasn't even Spring '12 yet. Snow was actually still on the ground in New York, but I knew I wanted this particular spring season to be freer, more colorful, easier, more about feeling good, and I wanted there to be a sexier feeling than we've been known for in the past.”

“I feel like everyone should buy less but buy better.”

“Women are more open to trying on a new personality every season; they can go from goth to bombshell to librarian, whatever.”

“I'm a big fan of TV on demand. I'm embarrassed to say what I watch. It's the worst crap.”

“I think the secret of my brand is that I speak to the guys who just get it. They don't want something all logo'd and tricked out. But they go to the gym. They still go out; they want to look hot. And they want an upgrade, but they don't want to look like their dad.”

“What I know of Hawaii is from watching the 'Brady Bunch' shows from the seventies.”

“A shirt's not just a shirt. It's the experience of what goes into that shirt.”

“You don't want to have a boring runway presentation, but you don't want to show stuff nobody is going to wear.”

“When you buy a new suit, take the time to get it tailored, and you'll thank yourself every time you put it on.”

“The minute you see a guy doing one of those Naomi Campbell catwalk-action kind of things, it falls apart. A lot of hips and the scissor walk? No! Men always need to be men.”

“One of the weird things about being a designer is guessing what the world will want about a year in advance of when they will want it. It becomes almost a psychological test in a way - how do I feel now and how do I want to feel then.”

“Designer pricing should hurt, but it shouldn't kill you. You wince when you hand over your AmEx, but once you get it home, you never regret it. You divide it by how many days you're using it, and suddenly it becomes affordable.”

“As a group, the fashion industry has been one of the strongest in the effort to fight HIV and AIDS. There are many groups dedicated to fighting this disease; GMHC's Fashion Forward is just one of them. But I think everyone in this industry fights it in their own way.”

“The hardest thing in the world to do is to take something everyone already knows and make it a little better.”

“I'm always much more inspired by random people on the street. I live down by NYU and The New School, and I'd almost say close your eyes and pull a student out, and they're gonna be a little bit cooler than the average celebrity.”

“At a certain point, this is a brand. It's got to be bigger than me as one little person. We have a lane - and it's a good lane - and want to drive faster down that lane.”

“It's easy to get wrapped up in the season-to-season business, but to have real longevity in this field, you've got to always maintain your point of view and what makes your brand unique. Your business is always going to have ups and downs, but there needs to be a certain consistency.”