Zac Posen
There's not one major greatest influence on my career. It would be film and great artists and great imagineers - Jim Henson, Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin, people who understand the joy of the imagination.Collection: Imagination
I'm not a chef. But I'm passionate about food - the tradition of it, cooking it, and sharing it.Collection: Food
There's a reason good fabrics have a cost. They're done with good quality to last.Collection: Good
Don't worry about what's cool and what's not cool. Authenticity is what's cool.Collection: Cool
The practice of patience in crafting and process is a virtue that needs to come back.Collection: Patience
I want to make things of quality. I'm a big believer in handmade, tactile, crafted pieces. I want to keep that tradition alive.
At the end of the day, you can't compete with Mother Nature. If you've got a great tomato, just a pinch of sea salt is all you need.
Everybody wants to be a star right now, to be heard, to have a voice, so you have to give the confidence for people to have that ability - and give them the wardrobe to become a star.
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.
There's nothing wrong with being pretty.
The biggest thing politically within fashion is that the clothing should be displayed on different body shapes.
I don't believe in one ideal beauty.
Fashion is killing women's body image of themselves.
Listen, I'm not a rich kid. I'm a cultured kid; I'm very rich in culture.
So many people are following fashion now. It's become fashion-tainment.
I want to be a major force.
There is no reason for me to show my collection in New York, because it's not about craft and technique there.
I am a compulsive and concise shopper.
People who devote themselves to a life of style are admirable.
I am totally unattached to material items.
Taking sartorial risks and not following other people is what makes you stand out.
I'm quite a tuxedo junkie, I collect them all year round.
I have so many fashion mistakes, but that's part of being in fashion. I think the people that you see make the most mistakes are usually the best dressers.
I love creative people.
I started cooking out of middle school depression.
Food is everything. Food, friends, family: Those are the most important things in life.
New York ladies all look immaculate.
I have a garden, and I collect different heirloom seeds from different neighbors.
One of my goals and dreams is to work in film in the future.
To me, being in fashion is about your work, not about facilitating a lifestyle.
If you're entering into fashion in an original way, you have to know your craft, and you have to know your history. You have to be obsessively dedicated. You have to be relentless about making it happen. It doesn't take a bank. It takes passion, love, timing, and luck.
To me, the more dialogue amongst creative types, the better. It keeps people on their toes, and competition is healthy.
You can't market or commercialize feminism as an entity. One has to be careful. I aim to be about powerful women in my clothing.
I have multiple lines and am licensing multiple projects, but I am still hands-on. It feels special. I don't take it for granted.
To be able to buy a plant and plant it, that's a luxury to me.
I'm a SoHo born-and-raised kid. So my parents dragged me to lots of museums, and for birthdays and any kind of celebration, we'd go to the theater.
At the end of the day, you're not defined, I don't believe, by your financial means. That doesn't make you a better person or a smarter person.
I go online at night and I order flowers, rare flowers, and then they come in the mail. That's my fashion detox.
One of my fantasies is to produce 'Auntie Mame' as a play.
Beyond fashion, I think that culture has a side where they love to shoot you up like a clay pigeon and then take out their rifles. I lived that, and I got to see the perspective from up in the sky.
Fashion is a pay-to-play game; this is an industry. At a certain point, you must bridge a gap where you are supporting the reviewer, the publication, and that is very real.
I try to be the best that I can be and the best to the people that work for me.
I feel very fortunate that I make everything I wear head to toe every day.
Chefs have the ego of an actor and fashion designer combined.
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.
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.
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.
Authenticity from a person and product is absolutely essential.
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.
As a designer, I'm not interested in trend.