Wood carving is such an amazing skill and very underrated; once you cut it, it's hard to go back.
Jonathan Anderson
I have a huge amount of respect for all Japanese designers because I think there is consistency and respect to craft.
Buttons, for me, are very sculptural things, and they are so fascinating.
Loewe should be a cultural brand.
When I think of Uniqlo, I think of things that are perfectly made, that people have spent a lot of time considering.
Acting is about portraying something... that dedication or learning the script of it is really important in really getting to know a topic.
I collect primarily ceramics but also black-and-white photography and some bits of contemporary.
My parents were extremely liberal. They didn't believe in being Catholic or Protestant, and that was a big deal at the time.
One thing I think is great is that if you use social media really well - in a natural, personal way - you can kind of see what's missing. You can see when you're bored of something or of someone.
I think fashion shows are a full stop. You need a point where there's no return, and fashion shows create a 'That's it; that's the finishing line.'
I always try to design fashion that is interesting and innovative, and I like to break traditions and challenge people's expectations.
Collaborations are incredibly important in design.
The first thing I do in the morning is have an espresso - straight up - and read the papers. I like 'The Independent,' 'The Times,' and the 'Financial Times.'
Ultimately, I think to be successful in fashion, you have to turn into the most incredible HR person. It's about politics. I'm massaging egos and keeping everyone happy.
If you're going to collect things because you think they have value, then don't collect. For me, you have to be obsessed, and there has to be something educational.
If designers are willing to take risks, I think buyers should take risks, as well with press taking risks.
Working with Uniqlo is probably the most incredible template of democracy in fashion, and it's nice that my design can be accessible to anyone, on all different levels.
I think I am obsessed with Lucie Rie. I love the way she collaborated with Miyake, who for me is probably the most important fashion designer of the 20th century.
We need to articulate luxury differently. We live in the world of the 'like' culture. As a society, we're consuming so much imagery, it's like gorging on sugar, and the only way to find depth in a 'like' culture is by presenting the unknown.
During the 1990s, luxury became something exclusive and elitist. I think fashion got lost. It forgot about craft and culture.
Work is an addiction. I've always done too much. It's in my nature.
The problem with me and TV shows is once I start watching them, I have to watch them all because I'm so impatient. I need the entire series to be on TV, and then I'll sit all day and watch the entire thing. So I did that with 'Homeland,' and I did that with 'Veep.'
You have to be slightly uncomfortable with what you're doing, and you have to be able to try to find moments of newness.
Fashion is an archetype: you're trying to build a silhouette, and that is very similar to building up a building because you're trying to create a new structure, a new proportion, a new shape, and you're using a material to cut which is a bit mathematical. That idea of finding something new in terms of proportion is something that drives me.
I've always loved collecting arts and crafts - I have pieces by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and William Morris at home in east London.
My parents are huge influences on me. My mother was an English teacher. My father played professional rugby and coached rugby for the Irish rugby team.
Everyone has something to learn from one another. When different disciplines meet, it creates this amazing unpredictability.
I am a huge obsessor with photography.
My brother and sister were very sporty. They all did rugby. I was very into performing arts. I went to the National Youth Music Theatre. I was one of those singing, clapping children.
When I visit any cathedral, it reminds me of being with my grandparents. They weren't particularly religious, but my grandfather was obsessed with architecture.
To be able to make furniture has always been a fantasy of mine.
The team I have to work with at Loewe is incredible, from the architect to the archivist.
Real life is difficult - some people find that hard to process.
I love jeans, T-shirts, and things you can jazz up and down, a bit of a mish-mash.
Everywhere I go, I buy something. I probably have an issue with shopping.
For me, the creative process is this giant patchwork of information.
I read up a lot about ceramics and collect them, but when you make something, it's very difficult to like it. I quite like appreciating and supporting what someone else does.
I just don't ever want it to be nice. I'd prefer someone had a violent reaction to my collection than ever call it 'nice.'
I wasn't very good at school and appalling at English.
I'm completely dyslexic - it's the writing part. People read what I've written, and they have no idea what I'm trying to say.
I've always been massively aware of clothing.
Doing something with Uniqlo means you come up with a wardrobe which is universal and quirky.
We have this perceived illusion of what the fashion designer does. As an industry, we make it out that this one individual changes the entire face of the earth. I have never said 'me'; it's always 'we.' I am just the big salesman.
In London, what I do on the weekend is be a person and have my own life. In Paris, it is going from this hotel to the office and back again. But I love it.
I'm really into very 'naive craft,' like Second World War playing cards.
Part of the reason Loewe has diversified into so many other categories is because what we can't do any more is simply say, 'Here's more stuff you can buy.'
As a child growing up in Ireland, you would have to go to Dublin if you wanted to go to the luxury brands. And I remember my mother being too uncomfortable to go into some of those stores. I want to get rid of the barrier.
I'm Irish, working for a Spanish brand, owned by a French company.
I've been a fan and collector of Lucie Rie for years.
You always need a textural landscape. I think that's what fashion is about, and I think when you come to a brand and you're trying to re-instill its history, the history only comes through being personal.
