Edward Enninful

Growing up, I loved the imagery I saw from America as it celebrated being the land of the free and home of the brave. ”

I was really sheltered growing up, with six brothers and sisters. We played together all the time, and I was living in a fantasy world, like most creative people. ”

When I was growing up, David Bowie was my idol. I grew up in inner-city London, and he was from Brixton, which is even more urban. ”

My memories of London Fashion Week are of starting out and not getting many tickets for fashion shows, but wanting to see them so much that I'd sneak in with my friends, people like Pat McGrath and Craig McDean. ”

My mother was a seamstress, so I always grew up with her making clothes. I knew how to construct outfits. I knew how to sketch. I knew how to customise. But I could never imagine it as a career. ”

You could say slowly but surely, the world is changing in a good way - equality in all forms is more and more part of the global conversation, and people are celebrating diversity and individuality. ”

I'm very protective of all the vulnerable young kids that go on shoots. I can empathize. I've been there. ”

Diversity is very important for me. ”

I think fashion can tell a story about celebrating difference, can talk about how different people are, how diverse people are - and for me, that's where fashion really succeeds, when it tackles things to do with the world we live in. ”

Music, for me, is as important as fashion. The first visuals I remember are Elvis Presley, David Bowie, New Romantics, and different punk bands. ”