Virgil Abloh

I don't sleep as much as normal people do.

For me, as I was growing up, I studied architecture, I was into music, and I always felt that there was a gap between the things that I loved and consumed and who made them and how they made them.

Graphic tees are vibes. And I think they're the basis of a lot of wardrobes, but that makes it challenging to distill what you're brand means within a T-shirt.

I don't do the vintage thing so much, just because it's not me. There are some vintage designers I'll buy things from, but mostly not.

Ironic things are interesting.

All the skateboarding brands that I was into had graphic T-shirts. In the '90s, there were different styles that went along with the different influences in skateboarding, whether that be hip-hop or rock and roll and grunge. And that's what I was into, so I was following all that.

My motivation is, in part, a bit of angst that comes from feeling like I don't belong, that our generation doesn't belong.

The fashion consumer likes a high-low mix - I want to be a brand that represents that.

Every idea that comes to mind I execute, or I look for outlets to put out ideas.

People, when they say 'streetwear,' they miss the central component, which is that it's real people; it's clothes that are worn on the street.

Pyrex Vision's first season was, for me, an expression of myself as an artist first, designer second.

I don't have to choose between high fashion or streetwear. My brand reminds me that it doesn't have to fit in a box. It can just be in a gray area.

If you look at why people become wack as they get older, it's because they stop doing the things they did that were formative to their work. You can't mentally stay still. You can't not challenge yourself.

I don't know where my parents got my name. I'm sure they saw it in a movie, maybe.

I don't come up with ideas in a test tube; I come up with ideas by breaking test tubes. That's how I've always been.

Criticism doesn't worry me.

When creativity melds together with global issues, I believe you can bring the world together.

I don't play golf.

My place in design history is to sort of interpret youth culture, and I think we've seen that done in fashion before - it's not a new concept - but it hasn't been done with the same vigour in a modern context.

I think the reason why Off-White exists is to modernize fashion.

I'm not really into style. I'm more into confidence or having something to say.

I'm always trying to prove to my 17-year-old self that I can do creative things I thought weren't possible.

Everything I do references something that influenced me.

The whole point of collaboration is that you give and take from each other, and that's how you create things that are totally new.

As a young designer in tune with culture, I'm interested in the lifeline of trends.

I've always had this in some ways pessimistic and in some ways realistic idea that I'm the lowest rung on the ladder.

People that are able to think in terms of concepts and offer us valuable forms of art are very exciting to me.

Fashion is kinda a joke. I don't get too bogged down in the clothes. For me, it's one big art project, just a canvas to show that fashion should have a brand which has someone behind it who cares about different contexts. Social things.

My first degree was in structural engineering, which is super-boring.

I hate being up onstage with a microphone.

There's no line between a designer and consumer.

All I do all day is think of ideas and implement them. That's an industry, you know. I'm trying to make art on a commercial scale.

For me, just as a social recorder of 2016, there's a new girl that emerged that can shop in between Zara and designer and still maintain a sense of her personality and identity.

The most important message is to let me just focus on making the most beautiful normcore clothes, but as luxurious as possible.

I'm a kid from Chicago. I know what it was like to see Obama become president. We felt the tectonic plates of the world shift.

I interned at Fendi while Michael Burke was overseeing Fendi.

For me, there's a subtlety in focusing on the right shape of T-shirt and pant. I recognise that it's boring, but the idea is to catch people off-guard and reward them in some valuable way.

What I love about tennis is the gracefulness. It's an aggressive and powerful game, but it takes touch and finesse.

I do fashion to tell a narrative.

Whenever I'm doing a collection, I'm inspired by the world around us.

I like the idea of a fully realized collection with artists.

Kanye's the best. He really, really is. He's cool. And why we've always gotten along is because we can just sit down and talk about art.

Music needs a visual element to make it tangible. So, naturally, there's gonna be a synergy between high-level art direction and high-level albums.

For me, I analyze the modern girl, the girl that I'm friends with, and they're empowered: They pay their own bills. They have their own style. They wear clothes - the clothes don't wear them.

From a very young age, as a teenager, I was into hip-hop and skateboarding and all those things that were akin to a kid in the '90s. All those things are what resulted in clothes.

'Creative director' is a catchall phrase for giving ideas. To me, it obviously means more than that. It's like being a counselor.

DJing is my only peace of mind. When the phone is off, I play my favourite songs really loud for myself, and I'm not talking to anyone; I'm not managing anything. It's just, like, a time when I can listen to music.

I don't have the patience to be a non-creator.

Fashion and music are two great artistic forms that can be molded by the youth culture - our taste and our passion for evolving things in our limited time on earth allows us to look at things with fresh eyes.

Art is made in hindsight.