“If you force an idea, it’s never as strong as when you really love it. We never really planned to disrupt anything; we just sort of wanted to do it our way and I think that’s how—seeing it from the outside—it looked like we were trying to disrupt something. In a way, we did, but it wasn’t to prove something. We just wanted to do it the way we felt was the right way. I think that’s where the disruption comes in.” —Demna Gvasalia
“Working at Margiela was almost like a continuation of my education. I tried to understand what the approach was, which was pretty much just about the clothes and working with the clothes to make new clothes. I realized that the inspiration came from this idea of cutting the clothes, twisting them, and changing them—through your own filter, you can make new clothes from things that already exist. That’s how I came to use this method of appropriation: using the things around us and turning them into a new product. I think every designer has their own method of working and this is mine. Given the fact that there are so many pieces of clothing out there—the industry produces so much—I thought I actually had no right to invent anything new, other than taking things that already exist and molding them into something different.” —Demna Gvasalia
“I think it’s very interesting, the definition of ugly. I think it’s also very interesting to find this line where ugly becomes beautiful or where beautiful becomes ugly. That’s a challenge I like. I think that’s a part of what fashion stands for and I like that people think my clothes are ugly; I think it’s a compliment.” —Demna Gvasalia
