Quotes from Olivier Theyskens

I really hated school. I had the feeling I was losing a lot of time.

When I started at Ricci, I did street wear for very cool, young girls, but the price point was for the fourth floor of Bergdorf Goodman next to Carolina Herrera. My cool girls cannot afford it.

I rarely stay at home when I'm in New York. I'm always doing things. It brings you so much energy.

I would love, just once, to do costumes for a movie. I almost did some theater, but it is very different from what I am used to doing as a fashion designer.

When the economy changes, it's not like you want to start eating bad-tasting chocolate.

When I was very young, I wanted to be a girl. I was jealous that girls got to be princesses and wear skirts. It tormented me. When I was 6, I even heard that you could change your sex, and I was very intrigued until the moment I realized that if I changed into a girl, I would be an ugly girl, and this is the last thing I wanted to be.

I could live naked... I love it.

As a designer, I'm not a guy that can be put in a niche.

I didn't understand the advantages of staying active until I was about 27.

I'm kind of obsessed with cool girls.

My mother loved fashion and always had a great aesthetic. But she also considered the cost of it, with the kids, that it wasn't something to allow herself.

I think the relationship is very tenuous between fashion and art. Many designers have built relationships with artists, which is not something I personally did. But it's true, sometimes you see artists working for a designer or a brand on some specific project or taking care of their environment and making an amazing store.

What is sure is that the satellite view of our world and its evolution is now a common reality.

I am more used to seeing my work like a big collection, and only part of it is being shown.

I've admired historical clothes like Victorian gowns since I was a child, and it's what motivated me to go into fashion.

When I started at [Nina] Ricci, I did street wear for very cool, young girls but the price point was for the fourth floor of Bergdorf Goodman next to Carolina Herrera. My cool girls cannot afford it.

It's interesting for me because in my work, a lot of times, I like to scrutinize the clothes and think what's going to make them look dated, and I do the same with vintage. In vintage, you want something unique and different, but at the same time, something that doesn't make you look like you dress like a grandpa.

I am interested in the idea of 'taste.' And by 'taste,' I mean opinion, inspiration and the craft of creating a personality through fabric and design.

My sense of designing is a mix of intuition and intellectual control.

What is funny is when you do a futuristic movie, you immediately get to be fashionable because you're creating something that doesn't exist.