“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.”

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.

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.

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.

I don’t think it serves any minority or underrepresented group to be coddled. Because the world won’t coddle you. So I actually believe in tough love, hard truths, black and white.

This song ain’t black or white and as far as I know it don’t infringe on anyone’s copyright.

Black history won’t stop no bullets.

Did you see the 2000 Republican Presidential Convention? The last time the Republicans had that many Black people on a stage, they were selling them!

When I was young, I loved black men.

We have to launch a national campaign against homophobia in the black community.

In the hour of adversity be not without hope, for crystal rain falls from black clouds.

When a black girl dies; the last thing to decompose is her heart.