Zac Posen

I truly believe that you can't be a successful business unless there are hiccups. That American mentality of picking yourself up, brushing your shoulders off, and then really going for it makes you 100 times stronger and smarter.

I am a Florenz Ziegfeld fanatic.

When I'm on the road for fashion shows, I love room service. I think it's one of the greatest things in the world. I usually like to keep it simple with soup, but my big indulgence is French fries or chicken fingers.

I don't wear flip-flops, so my casual shoe is a Brooks Brothers tuxedo slipper!

I like to vegetate when on vacation given my busy schedule when I'm at work.

The most significant pieces for me are the ones that come from my drapings. It's emotional because they are created by my hand and then become a collaborative process in the atelier.

I try to push design boundaries using new draping and fabric manipulation techniques every time I approach a new design.

Since the beginning of my career, I have publicly dressed and represented women of all sizes, of all colors. And that's a big part of who I am and what I want to give to the world.

There are issues that are being questioned that are fundamentally upsetting to me, deeply: immigration, funding for the arts, Planned Parenthood, and women's rights. These are just issues that are very close to my heart, and I use my own private voice and funds to fight for them and in support of them.

I believe that creativity is an important human experience and element in the same way as sleeping, eating, having sex.

I think, mind over body, it's real.

With Zac Posen gowns, it's like making an ornate pastry. Then, sometimes, it's just great to have the perfect chicken soup or consomme. And that's Brooks Brothers.

A great trick for frying is to put a popcorn kernel in the oil, and when it pops, you're ready to fry.

I garden in my Brooks Brothers pajamas and straw hat.

When I first got to Brooks Brothers, my mom told me she remembered how upsetting it was trying to find professional clothes in the eighties. Suits would either be over-stylized or frumpy, so she said, 'Make sure it's tailored properly.'

I was very interested in theatre, so my first love of fashion comes from costume, and I think that's pretty clear within my work and the level of theatricality.

Fashion has a dark side - it's not all runways and lipstick and fishtail gowns.

I'm interested in the opportunity that people can self-create using social media and the online dialogue. Before social media, you needed to have a lot of personal funds to break through to hire the right people and build a presence to start a line. It gives the opportunity and platform for people to be discovered.

As a designer, I'm not interested in trend.

The first time I went to the Met Ball, I was 16. I was an intern there and saved up to buy a staff ticket to the party. That was my favorite experience going. It wasn't the red carpet; it was the experience of being there for the first time.

Authenticity from a person and product is absolutely essential.

I like films that probe emotional questions and inspire you to get creative and get writing, get draping, painting, cooking, whatever that thing is where you have that kind of output.

I don't cook ribs in my own home. I let my dad cook the ribs. He's from St. Louis, Missouri. I like to use a grill, but that's my dad's domain.

There's something very old-fashioned and luxurious to have a pair of pants and jacket made to your needs and measurements.

As one grows their company and brand, you have to learn to be a leader, and there's no formula.

As an object itself, to me, books today are such a rare entity - I want mine to be something where, if left on the kitchen table, a child could pick it up. It can visually tell a story.

I think that maybe growing up and being dyslexic early on, the visual quality of cookbooks specifically was something very enticing to me.

Obviously, I like very beautiful food, because I think as delicious as food has to taste, it also has to look very beautiful - the process of presentation is very important.

As a little boy, my mom would bake with me on the weekends - that was our time together.

Sometimes, late at night on the set of 'Project Runway,' I've been known to pop an interpretive dance.

Some of the best kitchen discoveries come about through total kitchen disasters.

As a designer, I always want to put out to a larger public. I truly believe that all bodies are beautiful, and that's what makes our world exciting.

The way I cut my clothing... it is about empowerment and loving the curves of the body.

I have to bring my A-Game 24/7, between creating, draping, and overseeing a myriad of different brands.

I'm a pretty controlled and disciplined person, but my real vice is buying plants and food shopping.

I always end up in the kitchen at restaurants. At events or parties, too, I like to see where my food is prepared or made. I like the theater of it.

When I was little, I had a Norwegian babysitter - and that was my introduction to both regular and salty licorice. We all know the ordinary version, but the salty kind is a favorite candy throughout Northern Europe. It's a guilty pleasure of mine that I have to try not to keep around because I'll eat the entire bag in one go.

When you make and drape clothing, the scissors are your tool. What can I say about them? They're my babies. And you have to take care of them correctly. You have to have them sharpened, and you can't use them for any other material.

I just think when you are dressing a celebrity, for me, I'm hopefully adding a moment. I always say, 'What role do you want to play?' when we start a fitting.

I was born and raised on 'Singin' in the Rain.' It's in my work. It's in me.

I went through the workroom at Central Saint Martins in London, which is the most competitive workroom of a design school in the world. Very high creativity, very conceptual, very international, age-diverse and cutthroat - people who have master degrees reapplying into a foundation there is just wild to me to launch their careers.

I'm definitely planning ahead for a brand that spans the universe - a Zac Posen universe.

I was not a young fashion victim. I really had an idea of what I liked in fashion and how I dressed.

I personally love grilling, but it's a 15- to 20-minute commitment in entertaining.

I think it's really important to try to eat seasonally as much as possible. It helps put people in touch with what's happening locally and with nature.

I eat everything, but I moderate; I try to be semiconscious. I don't eat pasta every day, although people who follow my Instagram think I do.

Creative burnout and physical burnout is real. I mean, there are moments when I get home - after overseeing, you know, almost 16 collections a year - where I can't move.

Taking sartorial risks and not following other people is what makes you stand out.

People who devote themselves to a life of style are admirable.

I am a compulsive and concise shopper.