On Growing up...
"I go back to a lot of things I was seeing but not experiencing myself when I was younger. I saw the punk scene happening- I was too young to be involved- and later other strong youth culture groups, but they were thingsI felt I could not be a part of myself. I was from a small village, a very isolated place far from the city, about an hour away from Antwerp. When you are younger this is a long way. I went to a small Catholic college, where artistic things were not promoted at all. So when I picked up ideas from the street, it wasn't in me to be like that myself."
"I had nobody, absolutely nobody who I could relate to, nobody who gave me energy and inspiration."
"I've never had a 'fuck you' attitude. I've always had a sense of responsibility. It was later when I had a good job doing industrial design, living in Antwerp, surrounded by people who gave me inspiration, that I decided to quit my job and change everything."
"What I know about industrial design is that I found it very isolating and that I wanted to move away from it, but now I feel attracted to it again. In the last ten years I'm once again interested in the idea of furniture and making something that lasts and has a different presence."
On Maison Martin Margiela...
"After that [he third Martin Margiela show] I knew I wanted to be a fashion designer. A very impactful show, I think four out of five people were crying. After that I had a very different idea of fashion."
"When Belgian designers like Martin Margiela started to come out. It was a very strong, impactful time for any Belgian who was interested in fashion."
On Fashion...
"I think that every designer should strive to make a difference, to question things, to find a way of having a dialogue with their audience. That is the most satisfying part for a designer, if your brain and heart is very much about creation."
"I'm not someone who is happy with gut reactions. I'm a creative person so I love the dialogue and energy of the shows. But overall I want to make sure people fall in love with the clothes and that they are satisfied."
"Very often I communicate ideas knowing that there is no specific outcome. Fashion is not there to educate you, but to challenge you. Sometimes I speak with young kids and I have the feeling...not that they have no interest, but that they look at it a different way. This is the reason I chose to do fashion, to create a dialogue and bring people together."
with love.
