Nick Wooster

“Some people are born with a caul. I was born with a jacket.”

“I have a reputation that was sort of built on suits and boots, so I'm a huge fan of the sartorial equivalent of a mullet, where you're business on top and party on the bottom.”

“Fit and fabric are paramount. If the jacket fits, it doesn't matter what price you paid for it - you will look and feel fantastic.”

“For me, a Thom Browne suit is an investment.”

“You really can't function without a phone or an iPad.”

“I got fired from Neiman Marcus and Bergdorfs, and JC Penney didn't work out.”

“I'm really pretty classic.”

“I'll never forget my transition from pleated pants to plain front pants. It was the late '80s. I couldn't get rid of those pleated pants fast enough.”

“I still think of myself as a retailer first, but I also know how to make clothes.”

“Great product trumps all. You can have the biggest marketing budget, the biggest show, a perfect merchandising plan, but at the end of the day, it doesn't mean anything if the design and quality of the product you are offering is not compelling.”

“I've seen a few lookalikes, and that kind of freaks me out, but then I'm not the first person on the planet to have tattoos, and I'm not the first person to have hair or a tattoo sleeve.”

“A classic fishtail parka, anorak, mackintosh, windbreaker, pea coat, or jean jacket will get you through every season.”

“The Japanese are the ultimate students: they analyse things in so much detail... until they have pretty much mastered whatever they are studying.”

“Men shop for problem solving. They want something familiar. So if it's a new version of something they understand, they are right there with it and, hopefully, loving it.”

“I always say that MTV cribs is what brought straight men into the fashion world. Once they sort of saw sports guys and music guys had, like, a billion sneakers, they realized, 'Oh, you mean I can have more than one?'”

“Camo is almost like a solid. It is the perfect uniform: you can wear camo in any application and it is always right.”

“I grew up in the '60s and '70s when men were required to wear a suit, shirt, and tie every day to be taken seriously. I was at the tail end of that generation, and it had a significant impact on me.”

“I would never, ever call myself a createur or a designer. I'm more of an amalgamator or a D.J., taking two things that don't go together and making them go together.”

“Fashion comes and goes; prints come and go. Proper camo never really goes away.”

“I truly find inspiration everywhere. I always tell students, and young people starting out, that the single most important skill, next to listening, is to pay attention. You never know where inspiration will strike.”