"At the moment, there seems to be a craving for authenticity and clear visions. I am confident that this is the time for modern sophistication, for attractive, wearable fashion which is true to the new century. I do have strong convictions which evolved but never radically changed over time. I never tried to be provocative, but I never indulged in nostalgia, either. Fashion is experimentation, and if you keep the sophistication, it can also be eccentric. You have to break rules, if there is a good reason. And now is the right time to be daring, there are few new ideas."

— Jiline Sander


“I’ve never aspired to mass production. Because of my training as a tailor, my work involves lots of love and care, which is why so many of my clothes are made by hand here in London. Not to wow the crowd during a show, but because I love it.” - Alexander McQueen

“I’ve never aspired to mass production. Because of my training as a tailor, my work involves lots of love and care, which is why so many of my clothes are made by hand here in London. Not to wow the crowd during a show, but because I love it.” - Alexander McQueen


Creation excites me, because without creation there can be no progress. - Rei Kawakubo

Creation excites me, because without creation there can be no progress. - Rei Kawakubo

"I always want to be different, as a way to progress. At the beginning, I wanted to make a soft bag out of stiff leather. I wanted to make rich materials look poor, and poor materials look rich. Always there was something disturbing. In the end, that’s probably why people like Prada."

— Miuccia Prada

"He pushed you to do anything and everything. That’s one of the things I learned early from him — nothing was ever impossible. He challenged you one step further than you would ever challenge yourself. That was his ethos."

Sarah Burton on Alexander McQueen

"The iconic element of our house is total beauty, a vision of the woman that is very classic. The idea of Valentino is beauty. But maybe it used to be only for one type of woman. Nothing could be weird or individual, and everything had to be perfect. And beauty is different now, we believe. It is about being unique, being one of a kind. If you think of Chloe Sevigny in our dress, it is very romantic, but you don’t think of it as perfect. You feel that she has some secrets, something not exactly as it appears. You have to look twice. And I think that is more interesting than the standard idea of beauty."

— Pier Paolo Piccioli, creative director of Valentino