Quotes from Edward Enninful

I didn't grow up with money; I didn't come from a rich family. But what fashion gave me was an escape into a world of creativity: if I couldn't afford that Junior Gaultier jacket, then I'd get one from the market and customise it.

People of power have to show empathy and kindness to the young.

I'm so fascinated by the influence of social media on fashion. I've seen so many artists on Instagram, up and comers you would have never known otherwise.

Social media and technology are democratising and opening up fashion and the process of fashion for all - this has good and bad sides, but that comes with any change.

Social media is fine, depending on how you use it.

I didn't know anything about the fashion industry until I met the stylist Simon Foxton on a Tube. I was 16, on my way to Kingsway College, and then my whole world opened up. Before that, like in every African family, you are meant to be a lawyer.

I come from a family who didn't have much money but raised me to believe that money wasn't the most important thing in the world. We had enough; we were happy.

When I was 18 years old, I moved into Neneh Cherry's house in Kensal Rise with Judy Blame and our friend Michael Boadi.

I get nervous before every shoot. I'm really jealous of the people that can just rest on their laurels and say, 'I'm good; this is it.'

When I started in the nineties, a sample size was a 4 and a 6.

If you put one model in a show or in an ad campaign, that doesn't solve the problem. We need teachers in universities. We need internships. We need people of different ethnic backgrounds in all parts of the industry. That really is the solution: you have to change it from the inside.

I realise I am stepping into the shoes of a hugely respected editor in the shape of Alexandra Shulman, someone who has chosen to leave at the top of their game with a legacy of 25 years of success.

When I was growing up, David Bowie was my idol. I grew up in inner-city London, and he was from Brixton, which is even more urban.

I've learned to put a big value on having a life outside of fashion, and I think that's what's saved me, because the fashion industry can suck you in.

Most of the time, working as a stylist, you're at home, working on your own, researching.

I can't just go in and throw clothes at a picture. I still have to have some kind of an idea of a character, of who she is, where she's from. It's almost like playing a child's game. You have your dolls, and you create characters for them. Fashion indulged that in me.

Coming from a family who put a lot of emphasis on academics, I always thought I was going to be a lawyer.

I am black in a predominantly white industry, and I have been luckier than most.

It was a whole new attitude: no makeup, less is more... the '90s were fun!

When you start out in the industry and things are tough, and you're not really making money, you question yourself: should I give up?