Quotes By Alexander McQueen

I'm mad in the front of my mind, but business-minded in the back.

I am a melancholy type of person.

I came to terms with not fitting in a long time ago. I never really fitted in. I don't want to fit in. And now people are buying into that.

Now I design what I want to wear, and it works that way.

I was never a big networker, but I was a spin doctor, all those shock shows, that's how I got my first backers. But fashion's a scary industry to be in, especially if you've not grown up with it.

As a designer, you've always got to push yourself forward; you've always got to keep up with the trends or make your own trends. That's what I do.

British fashion is self confident and fearless. It refuses to bow to commerce, thus generating a constant flow of new ideas whilst drawing in British heritage.

Fashion should be a form of escapism, and not a form of imprisonment.

I'm interested in designing for posterity.

It's a new era in fashion - there are no rules. It's all about the individual and personal style, wearing high-end, low-end, classic labels, and up-and-coming designers all together.

You can get insular with fashion.

Some couture collections have everything including the kitchen sink! Everything gets thrown on to make it look expensive. I find it grotesque when clothes hit you in the face and there's no room for fault. But I don't expect to turn things around all by myself. I'm not a saint.

I want to empower women. I want people to be afraid of the women I dress.

There is something sinister, something quite biographical about what I do - but that part is for me. It's my personal business. I think there is a lot of romance, melancholy. There's a sadness to it, but there's romance in sadness. I suppose I am a very melancholy person.

The police need to come down to street level.

Really, what I'm aiming for is world domination!

There has to be a balance between your mental satisfaction and the financial needs of your company.

Of course I make mistakes. I'm human. If I didn't make mistakes, I'd never learn. You can only go forward by making mistakes.

I think I should be a president. President of the United States.

I've had good times; I've had bad times.

Rap music's been around for too long now to be inspirational. The words are, but the music isn't.

Fame should be left to the film stars.

Youth culture now really looks back and embraces the past, but keeps it contemporary but not sticking to one particular style.

When a woman gets dressed up to go out at night, she wants to give 50% away, and hold the rest back. If you're an open book, there's no allure.

You find a lot of ideas from my shows in adverts now. I find it a compliment.

I work with people I admire and respect. It's never because of who they are.

I think the idea of mixing luxury and mass-market fashion is very modern, very now - no one wears head-to-toe designer anymore.

The turnover of fashion is just so quick and so throwaway, and I think that is a big part of the problem. There is no longevity.

I'm not big on women looking naive.

I'm not interested in being liked.