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

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.

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

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’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.

The Cross of Christ is the crux of history. Without the Cross, history cannot be defined or corrected.

I define God as an energy. A spiritual energy. It has no denomination, it has no judgment, it has an energy that when we’re connected to it we know why we’re here and what we’re here to do.

She teaches me I am boundless and free. She teaches me my past does not define me.

My definition of stupid is wasting your opportunity to be yourself because I think everybody has a uniqueness and everybody’s good at something.

People of dua are optimistic by definition. They know that dua and thoughts like ‘unlikely’ or ‘impossible’ don’t coexist.

Your beauty never ends, it defines space and time.

An outlaw can be defined as somebody who lives outside the law, beyond the law and not necessarily against it.

The average result has to be the average result. By definition, everybody can’t beat the market. As I always say, the iron rule of life is that only 20% of the people can be in the top fifth. That’s just the way it is.