Or so he reportedly told Teen Vogue in an interview:
Seeing strangers in your designs must be an everyday occurrence for you now. Is it still exciting?
Yes! To me, it’s the greatest compliment. Even when I see a copy, something that’s inspired by something I’ve done, it’s a rewarding feeling. Because that’s why I do what I do. It was never my desire to revolutionize fashion, to make clothes that could be in a museum. I want to create clothes that have a certain style, but I want to see them used. I want to see people enjoy the things I’ve made.
He also talked about his sources of inspiration:
What does your job consist of now?
Actually, I do two jobs. I work for my own company and I work for Louis Vuitton, but my position at both companies is the same. I’d describe it as being part of a team — a very big team — of creative people: designers, sewers, pattern-makers, sales people. We put on shows, we do lots of press, and I work on shoes, handbags, perfume…all sorts of things. But it’s always the same process: Coming up with an idea, working through the colors, the materials, the sensibility, the spirit, and having that idea realized in a three-dimensional form. Then you check it, correct it, tweak it, and get it as close as you can — within the time that you have — to what the initial thought was.And where do the ideas come from in the first place?
Everywhere. Everywhere and anywhere. They come from other people, they come from me, they come from people I see on the streets. Sometimes they come from a movie I saw the night before, and sometimes it’s as simple as wanting a big, soft sweater because I’m cold that day.