Clothes is just something you put on to cover yourself... fashion is a way to communicate.

- Dries van Noten

When we were studying at the Royal Antwerp Academy, we were taught to seek inspiration from everyone, everything and everywhere. My parents and grandparents were also a great inspiration for me a very young age.

- Dries van Noten

For me personally, there's too much fashion around in this world.

- Dries van Noten

I don't design for myself. I design something keeping in mind that it has to please a lot of women.

- Dries van Noten

I have a responsibility to the people who work for me, the manufacturers I work with. There is no point to clothes that don't sell.

- Dries van Noten

I have nothing against glamorous dressing.

- Dries van Noten

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

- Dries van Noten

To create a collection, you need a narrative - an explanation to tell the team.

- Dries van Noten

I was a kid at the end of the 1960s and in the early 1970s, so a lot of things changed. You had pop music coming up, with David Bowie, you had new television programmes and all these things. I was fascinated.

- Dries van Noten

Sometimes, to stimulate your imagination you have to be careful you don't have too much information. You can Google something, and it's in your face, pow! You don't have time to dream any more about it.

- Dries van Noten

For me, restrictions are not always negative. Restrictions can push creativity. I like restrictions.

- Dries van Noten

I prefer a scruffy atmosphere.

- Dries van Noten

I prefer to see a good exhibit sponsored by a brand than a bad exhibit due to lack of funds.

- Dries van Noten

I try to be as independent as possible.

- Dries van Noten

I'm a fashion designer, not a shoe designer. I like to design clothes.

- Dries van Noten

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.

- Dries van Noten

I think by my father owning a store, I was definitely aware of the commercial aspect of selling clothes. His shop was a place I enjoyed spending time in as a boy, so I learned things almost by osmosis at times, by literally just being around all the action and not really despite myself.

- Dries van Noten

I'm really hands-on. My team brings in elements, but, every season, it's kind of a personal struggle to find the balance and to see how far I want to push the elements.

- Dries van Noten

I like to choose my own way forward. I really do want to create something that I personally like a lot.

- Dries van Noten

Various different people have inspired me throughout my career. From Francis Bacon to Vassareli, Coco Chanel to Christian Dior, Cecil Beaton, musicians, architects... the list is endless.

- Dries van Noten