“Those that think my clothes are androgynous also still believe that women should look like Barbie dolls. That’s precisely the problem, the deep-rooted assumptions about what is feminine.”

I want to put a soul in a garment. I don’t want my clothes to be perfect, because human beings are not perfect.

Who could imagine a poet wearing anything other than black?

I work for men that I would love to meet, somebody who I could fall in love with, someone who intrigues me.

I just wait because I think people will find me. And I’m not the kind of person who will knock on somebody’s door. I wait. If they’re good for me, they will come towards me.

Creating is a lonely thing in a lot of ways.

For me black is not dark, it’s poetic. I don’t think of gothic I think of classic – it’s a big difference.

Black is not sad. Black is poetic.

I never leave anything behind. It’s like a history, a chain, a line of life, you just have to move and make new steps, and keep it evolving – but my soul is my soul.

Good fashion for me is like rock ‘n’ roll – there’s always a little rebellion in it.

A new time is coming both for my personal life, and the brand Ann Demeulemeester. I feel it’s time to separate our paths.

I’d like to cut an attitude into clothes.

Fashion has a right to exist, because it permits the people to define themselves over and over again.

Jewelry is something that has to do with emotion. That aspect of jewelry really interests me.

I’ve always been intrigued by cutout silhouettes. They are so intriguing, so poetic-the shadow of a soul. They tell everything about a character and they are open to be filled with one’s own imagination.

Black is not sad. Bright colours are what depress me. They’re so empty. Black is poetic. How do you imagine a poet? In a bright yellow jacket? Probably not.

Fashion has a reason to be, because in fashion you can find new kinds of expression about human beings. It’s my way to communicate.

There is no such thing as philosophy-free science, just science that has been conducted without any consideration of its underlying philosophical assumptions.

You proceed from a false assumption: I have no ego to bruise.

You should have a strategic asset allocation mix that assumes that you don’t know what the future is going to hold.

Start by assuming the market is always wrong, so if you copy everybody else on Wall Street, you’re doomed to do poorly.

The assumption of an absolute determinism is the essential foundation of every scientific enquiry.

The biggest misconception about work is that you need to spend the majority of your time doing it.

Truth is the only healthy place from which to speak. Assumption is the birthplace of godless chatter.

Every facet, every department of your mind, is to be programmed by you. And unless you assume your rightful responsibility, and begin to program your own mind, the world will program it for you.