Quotes from Edward Enninful

I'm very proud of the world that's embracing all these different ideas of what it is to be diverse, in 2017.

Diversity is very important for me.

There is nothing more classic in the realm of casual than jeans and a white tee - a look that is inherently Americana and reminiscent of the American Dream - an optimistic dream of opportunity, individuality, freedom, and the embodiment of one living their truth.

When I was really young, I had an afro and wore pressed jeans and argyle sweaters. In my teens, I moved on to ripped Levi's jeans, white T-shirts, and cowboy boots.

The fashion industry needs to breed a whole different way of thinking. We need more diverse people working in all facets of the industry.

A queen does not wear clothes off the runways.

I take random inspiration from everywhere.

The funny thing is that the fashions from the '90s seem to sit so well with the fashions of 2016. Everything from then somehow skipped and came back.

I'd never seen anything like it in my life. Someone so blatantly challenging the ideas of race and gender and sexuality. In a way, it was comparable to David Bowie, except that Prince brought that to the black community.

I can tell you, without diversity, creativity remains stagnant.

My memories of London Fashion Week are of starting out and not getting many tickets for fashion shows, but wanting to see them so much that I'd sneak in with my friends, people like Pat McGrath and Craig McDean.

By people getting together and celebrating this idea of togetherness, great things can happen.

I don't think everything has to be new all the time. You don't have to have the latest designer all the time to look good. Just have things you're comfortable with, have key pieces that you can sort of reinvent over and over again, and always keep things that you really love for a while.

I was very honoured to be awarded an OBE in 2016 for my services to diversity in the fashion industry.

I grew up in an African household, so lots of chicken, lots of rice. We ate Jollof rice, a very West African dish.

Being an immigrant and living in England, I feel like I lived in two worlds. There was the world that, when I was at school with my friends, was very English, and then I'd go home to another country, with exotic foods and colours. I have a sense of colour pairings, and that came from my background, I think.

I don't think I'm in any way an icon, to be very honest.

Growing up, I loved the imagery I saw from America as it celebrated being the land of the free and home of the brave.

I learned that fashion was about more than fancy images. That there was a business side as well.

I love the optimistic American style that Gap celebrates and the simplicity of the basic white T-shirt that allows you to be yourself.

I'm just propelled by insecurity; that's what really leads me to want to do better.

I was really sheltered growing up, with six brothers and sisters. We played together all the time, and I was living in a fantasy world, like most creative people.

My mother was a seamstress, so I always grew up with her making clothes. I knew how to construct outfits. I knew how to sketch. I knew how to customise. But I could never imagine it as a career.

I'm very protective of all the vulnerable young kids that go on shoots. I can empathize. I've been there.