I was never a fashion snob.
— Patrick Cox
I was wondering if the best was behind me, had the high point of my career already happened. Then I saw what Manolo had done, and some of his best work happened after he turned 40.
I used to sock hop to 'Crocodile Rock' and stare at those platform boots on the album cover.
I'm kind of the shoe guy.
The word 'modern' is a cliche.
I don't eat at home, ever.
I have a pop sensibility, which I think comes from all those weekends spent in nightclubs.
I lived in Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon when I was very young, until my mother divorced my father.
I am like a sponge: I adore reading, watching films, and visiting museums and exhibitions. I am always in search of new things in many spheres.
I'm a huge monarchist.
As a designer, you are not only a designer, you are also a celebrity, an entertainer, and a spokesperson that speaks on behalf of the company. So you need to realize that you have to embrace all those sides.
After selling the business, and the Patrick Cox brand in 2007, I had a three-year non-compete, where I just spent a lot of time hanging all over the world on beaches and having fun.
I've stayed in enough hotels so I really know what works and what doesn't design-wise.
Show some originality and never wear one designer head to toe.
I am a magpie. My eye collects details.
By the time I came out of college, I was fabulous.
Wannabe was so huge. So big. So unexpected.
Copying is a form of self-validation.
Archives can be inspiring but overwhelming. You have to forget them - especially when the whole world has been knocking them off. Everyone shops the same flea markets.
Elizabeth Hurley rocks. She really rocks.
Do I miss shoes? I miss the designing, but I don't miss the fashion industry. Those people eat their children.
I think a house should reflect the interests and personality of the occupant, but it takes time to gather together the objects one likes around oneself.
In fashion, my inspiration comes from pop culture - the 1960s and the following years. Whereas in interior design, my influences are much broader.
I couldn't have asked for a better testimonial than Bob Dylan parting with his own cash for a pair of my shoes.
If you use your own name as your business brand, keep in mind that if you lose that brand, you have lost your name. And that is a bit of a problem going forward in life. If you decide to make up a name, and if you have lost that name, then who cares. But when it is your name on the products, and you lose it, that is the game changer.
I'm addicted to chinos the second weather gets warm enough.
There is nothing worse than bright lighting - it isn't flattering and makes the glamorous women want to leave.
It is all about quality of life and being proud of what I do. I need me to be me.
I love talking in lira because, suddenly, everything is in billions.
I've learnt a lot about construction and flexibility from my time at Geox.
I'm not a shoe snob.
I love Italy, and that's where I make my own shoes. But the French really do respect designers. Italy is totally different; footwear is an industry. The shoes are all about craft and luxury. French shoes are more about straight lines, and they are way more geometric.
I came to London during what was called the second British invasion. The music was from Britain, the fashion was from Britain, everything was from Britain, so I knew I had to be in Britain.
Now, I'm older. I don't follow the vagaries of fashion: my look tends to be skinny flat-front trousers with a long-sleeve American Apparel T-shirt and a V-neck cashmere jumper - preferably Loro Piana.
My inspiration for interior design is more historical than traditional.
I like to be playful; I want people to look at what I do and smile.
Shoe design is like architecture - with the finest structure and tight, precise seams, it suits my obsessive neatness.
I finished college by July 15th, 1985, and by October 1985, I had a little stand during the trade show which was London Fashion week at the time. My stand was tiny - just 6 square meters in total - and I had my 12 shoes that I designed while in college.
Most of my holidays are with wonderfully generous friends with houses in the country or the South of France.
Rock stars love Cuban heels because a lot of them tend to be diminutive. And I've never met a man who doesn't mind having an extra inch or two anywhere on his body.
