Quotes from Rei Kawakubo

I only came to Paris with the intention of showing what I thought was strong and beautiful. It just so happened that my notion was different from everybody else's.

I want to show people that tailoring has value, which I don't see anymore in men's fashion.

I think the media has some responsibility to bear for people becoming more conservative.

I want to create a market where people from all walks of life can encounter each other in an atmosphere of beautiful chaos, the coming together of kindred souls.

Although I do not believe in fame, what it brings me is the fact that I can ask someone to work with me, and they do not say no.

I'm not an artist: I'm a businesswoman. Well, maybe an artist/businesswoman.

Growing up in postwar Japan has made me the person I am, but it is not why I do the work I do. It is a very personal thing - everything comes from inside.

I identified very much with punk, not only in the fashion sector, but in every other sector. The very nature of doing something new and free meant something that was against authority.

For me, the best way to know me is to look at my clothing.

My approach is simple. It is nothing other than what I am thinking at the time I make each piece of clothing, whether I think it is strong and beautiful. The result is something that other people decide.

Collaborations have no meaning if 1 + 1 does not equal much more than 2.

I do not feel happy when a collection is understood too well.

I am always thinking that some interesting possibility, some accidental synergy, could occur in a collaboration, and people seem to like it.

For something to be beautiful it doesn't have to be pretty.

My energy comes from freedom and a rebellious spirit.

I don't like to own things, I feel freer when I don't own things. Silence is very important to me. I find being alone rather relaxing.

What someone wears is an expression of oneself. When you're just comfortable with what you're wearing, you don't have new thoughts. I want people to feel something and think about who they are.

Clothes are only completed when somebody actually wears them. If they were art, they could be more abstract. As long as something is new and has never been seen before, I don't mind if people call it art. Wear them if you dare.

Creation takes things forward. Without anything new there is no progress. Creation equals new.

The place I am always looking for - because in order to keep the business, I need to make a little compromise between my values and customers' values - is the place where I make something that could almost - but not quite - be understood by everyone.

I don't think of myself as anyone special, and I would not know how to define myself.

Often in each collection, there are three or so seeds of things that come together accidentally to form what appears to everyone else as a final product, but for me, it is never ending.

Not only in the creative world but also in the sports world. The most successful achievers in sports are people that are really driven and have that spirit of hunger.

When you put on clothes that are fighting against something, you can feel your courage grow. Clothing can set you free.