Quotes from Thom Browne

I think pattern makers are some of the most underrated, undervalued people in fashion. They're the people who are sometimes the geniuses in designing clothing.

I feel like jeans and a T-shirt have become Establishment. Everyone's dressed down. So actually, putting on a jacket is the anti-Establishment stance.

Every man should own a navy cashmere jacket with gold buttons, a grey suit, black shoes shoes for the city, brown shoes for elsewhere. Everything else should be simple and really well made.

I love the idea of things being strict and things being uniform. That's the reason why I surround each collection with humor or irony. I want to make sure that it's not too serious and that there is some element that throws it off because otherwise that would make it really boring. There's always a story that's somewhat fantastical.

My uniform: grey suit, white shirt, grey tie and tie bar, grey cardigan and black wingtips.

I'm not Amish, but I grew up in that same area of Pennsylvania and became very attracted to the inherent strictness and uniformity of that community.

As a designer, I think you just have to make sure you know what you want and stay true to it. You need to have conviction and really just want to make people think in regards to doing interesting things.

I want to put concepts in front of people that make them laugh or smile or even hate what I do. I'm not interested in just putting clothes in stores.

Some people think that my shows are just for shock value, but the provocation makes those classic pieces look different every six months. You don't need to see the same gray suit every season. But surrounding it with 40 really interesting ideas makes it feel new.

I've always been drawn to the American style in the late '50s and '60s.

It's sad that the cell phone is replacing the watch as a time-telling device. I wear a vintage watch that's really skinny.