As one grows their company and brand, you have to learn to be a leader, and there's no formula.
— Zac Posen
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.
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.
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.
I'm a pretty controlled and disciplined person, but my real vice is buying plants and food shopping.
For me, I'll unwind at the end of the day by soaking in Epsom salts. It's the routine I prefer for coming down after crazy days.
I was born and raised on 'Singin' in the Rain.' It's in my work. It's in me.
I was not a young fashion victim. I really had an idea of what I liked in fashion and how I dressed.
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.
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 like to vegetate when on vacation given my busy schedule when I'm at work.
I try to push design boundaries using new draping and fabric manipulation techniques every time I approach a new design.
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.
There's a reason good fabrics have a cost. They're done with good quality to last.
I garden in my Brooks Brothers pajamas and straw hat.
Fashion has a dark side - it's not all runways and lipstick and fishtail gowns.
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 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.
As a little boy, my mom would bake with me on the weekends - that was our time together.
Some of the best kitchen discoveries come about through total kitchen disasters.
The way I cut my clothing... it is about empowerment and loving the curves of the body.
There's something very old-fashioned and luxurious to have a pair of pants and jacket made to your needs and measurements.
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 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 personally love grilling, but it's a 15- to 20-minute commitment in entertaining.
A great trick for frying is to put a popcorn kernel in the oil, and when it pops, you're ready to fry.
I don't wear flip-flops, so my casual shoe is a Brooks Brothers tuxedo slipper!
The practice of patience in crafting and process is a virtue that needs to come back.
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.
I believe that creativity is an important human experience and element in the same way as sleeping, eating, having sex.
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.
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.'
There's nothing wrong with being pretty.
Authenticity from a person and product is absolutely essential.
I think that maybe growing up and being dyslexic early on, the visual quality of cookbooks specifically was something very enticing to me.
Sometimes, late at night on the set of 'Project Runway,' I've been known to pop an interpretive dance.
I'm not a chef. But I'm passionate about food - the tradition of it, cooking it, and sharing it.
I have to bring my A-Game 24/7, between creating, draping, and overseeing a myriad of different brands.
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.
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'm definitely planning ahead for a brand that spans the universe - a Zac Posen universe.
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 am a Florenz Ziegfeld fanatic.
I cherish my time off and the solitude that comes along with it.
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.
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.
I think, mind over body, it's real.
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 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.
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.
