Quotes from Giles Deacon

Students are up to their eyeballs in loans, and it's going to get even worse. It's going to be hideous, actually. Students are going to be saddled for life. It's going to put a lot of people off going to college, which is a shame.

I always find the idea of Britishness a bit of a boring old concept, to be honest. That world of Britishness always comes off a bit twee and only about cream teas and that sort of things.

It can be refugees, it can be a pregnant mother, it can be a 15-year-old... homelessness can happen to everybody.

A lot of people's circumstances can change very, very quickly, and people can move jobs, relationships can break down, something else could happen, and the next thing you know, you can't pay your rent, you can't get the support you require, and you're out on the street.

My designs at Ungaro are a lot more sexual, in more of an obvious way: my personal designers are a little bit more sideways.

DAKS is a much more restrained silhouette, and there's a real emphasis on daywear, outerwear, and tailoring. It's more stripped-down.

If a piece is individually made to measure, then it's couture.

I do like designing clothes that are - not exactly lofty but intellectual in their sexiness.

There are some great skinny girls, but it's about characters, isn't it? That's what I find attractive. People who've had interesting lives and tell you something that you don't know or are really good fun.

'Irony' is such an over-used word.

I think a bit of jewellery that cheers you up for the day isn't a bad thing.

I've always liked historic jewellery that's got a kind of quirkiness or playfulness to it; I like that it's not too serious.

My friends and I used to take two-hour trips to the record store in Newcastle, and we started buying copies of The Face and i-D. And then I went to art school, and as time progressed, I ended up where I am now.

With couture, you're going right to the consumer, and that's something we learned from doing trunk shows. You're meeting the client; you're finding out what they like and what they don't like. You've really got your customer there in front of you, so you know what works and what doesn't.

I had a great teacher who was really encouraging and said I should go to Central Saint Martins. So I worked my socks off, and I managed to get a place there. It was there that I developed a real love for design.

Some things can be quite stupid yet interesting. Life can be like that.

I don't really have a mentor.

I have an art-school background, not a fashion background where it's like, 'Oh, we're going on holiday to Miami.'

I've always drawn a lot. I like the idea of turning a 2-D sketch into a 3-D thing very quickly. And clothing is really good for that.

I went to public and state schools - not at the same time. I did my art foundation course at Harrogate College of Arts. This brilliant tutor suggested I apply to Central Saint Martins. I adored it.

The natural world is a source of inspiration.

My parents weren't into fashion. I didn't have an eccentric granny who mixed lace mantillas with tweed.

We design for a whole range of ages and body types, and we always have done. What's great about us is that the common thing that they all like is an accessible eccentricity of an accessible flamboyance, and I think the super thing about that, it isn't age-specific: you're not only dressing 25-year-olds; we're dressing women from 25 to 65+.

I'm lucky that I've worked with the biggest divas in the world. We've had Miss Piggy and Minnie Mouse, so I've got to be careful who I say now, but obviously, I'd love to dress them again.