Dries van Noten

I'm a very big fan of winter-flowering shrubs and bulbs. You have the smell, you have the color - it's really like a present from God when something like that is in flower in the middle of the snow. ”

One of the big luxuries of being in Antwerp is that I can easily walk in the city. In Paris and New York, I am more recognized. ”

I have nothing against glamorous dressing. ”

I prefer ugly things. I prefer things which are surprising. ”

Many a fashion designer's career was founded using packs upon packs of Polaroids, and though we love them, we forget that the image quality was often circumspect. ”

My office looks very empty compared with my house. The house is completely crammed full with things that Patrick and I love. It's very eclectic. There are things that have no value but which we like. We have a lot of Belgian painters; we have international painters. We have nice things; we have ugly things. I don't want that things are predictable. ”

I collect objects I fall in love with more than antiques per se. Value is not a criteria that attracts me to something. ”

I think in the same way when I'm cooking, when I'm gardening, when I'm choosing fabrics. It's a way of living. ”

People get this very romantic vision of a fashion designer who in one night makes 25 sketches and in the morning throws them on the table and there are a lot of women in white aprons with the pins on the lapel and they start to grab the sketches and... It's not like that. ”

I started the company in 1986, but we didn't have the money to do a show until '92. ”