Quotes from Francisco Costa

My resolution is to make positivity, thankfulness and happiness my new mantra.

I hope the average woman feels she needs practicality but with a little bit of fantasy. Otherwise it's just not fashion.

All the Tauruses I know have this connection to the earth and the environment. We are very curious people, very loyal, very aware of and respectful of our surroundings. Also, we're stubborn, but that's our way. We understand what we want, which is not bad.

I hate to sound esoteric, but there is something about a house that leads you to that one chair, that one corner, where you just sit and feel comfortable.

I wanted to be involved with fashion, though I didn't know what being a designer meant.

When I say art influences me, which it does, it's not at all in a literal form. You go and see exhibitions or collections or meet an artist. It's all a compilation. Every moment, at all times, all this information. Then all this information disappears, and it shows up later in the process.

I'm not an artist. I'm a fashion designer of clothes.

You think 24-7 when you're a creative person. And I find pleasure in everything - if I'm in a flea market, I'm there on my downtime, but I'm also there searching for the collection. I don't separate the two.

My parents had a factory, so I was linked to the textile and fashion industry.

I love to garden and cook whenever I get the chance and escape anywhere that's peaceful and quiet. My philosophy on living well is to always stay positive in life.

When a sketch comes into this three-dimensional form and everybody contributes, it's really fantastic.

Right after high school, I moved to Rio and took classes to become a technician for a manufacturing factory where you had to figure out how to produce 3,000 pairs of jeans. But in Rio, I was by myself, which was very liberating, being so young. I got to do my own thing.

Brazil is not what you see but what you feel. Once you spend time here - a week, two weeks - you get in the vibe. It's really intoxicating.

I don't love reading so much, but I love book shopping. It's just because I don't have much time.

I wonder if I would have been less organic of a designer without my background. Maybe I would be more academic about designing, more methodical. I want things to be a certain way, and I'm very precise, but school itself wasn't that relevant for me.

I get so much inspiration from my travels, but I also started an exercise where I write down so many words every week. Then I begin crossing them off. We create a grid of words and also images, but words for me are more ample because you can interpret them your own way.

I never liked sleeping; I always think I am missing something.

If you have beautiful knees, show your knees. I'm not a puritan. I love skin.

My love of fashion stemmed from my mother's passion for it.

I have no tolerance for boredom. I spend so many hours in the office, and I still love it.

I don't love reading so much, but I love book shopping.

I like cold. I really like to go to cold towns. I love gray. I love winter.

Rio was a period of my life, and then, poof, I'm gone. I was very young living here, just kind of floating. New York was a foundation for everything I do today. Rio was the bridge.

When people ask me what it is about Brazil and my work, it's not something that I can say literally. It's unidentifiable. It's like when you do research and things inspire you. If you're smart enough, then obviously you don't take it literally. The inspiration will come out later somehow.