Designer

The music alone wasn't enough. It was great, but when an artist had an amazing look - like the MC5, or the Stooges, or Alice Cooper - you really got sucked in. The wardrobe was so important. At a show, you were engrossed in the music, but you were also engrossed in everything from the haircuts to what they were wearing.

When I started working in fashion, I didn't have money to buy photographs, so I'd Xerox pictures from magazines and put them in notebooks. When I'd start a collection, I'd sit with my old notebooks and look through them for inspiration.

Canada - they won't like me saying this, but it's really like it's a part of Michigan, that area.

A lot of designers become hot, attend every party, and then you don't hear about them again.

I collect vintage vinyl records.

Sit-ups and push-ups work without a gym.

When a man's suit fits, when the construction is beautiful, when the sewing and fabrics are there... in the end, you'll look the best in it.

Women tell me they won't date a guy with bad shoes. There are good-looking guys with good-looking outfits, and then really bad-looking square toe I-don't-even-want-to-mention-the-label kind of shoes. There is no reason for that. Again, invest in something that looks proper. A great pair of shoes can make your old outfit look great, too.

I wasn't into pop music, even at a really young age.

My vision is the ability to design clothes for a man who wants to create his own style and doesn't want to dress like he's in uniform, to look like the guy in the ad, or to feel like he has to put it together that way.

I loved the MC5 and the Stooges, but also, the British Invasion - the Kinks and the Yardbirds - and then Led Zeppelin, of course. Alice Cooper was one of my favorite bands.

People will always have their opinions; I've come to learn whose matter.

Success is a funny thing. It means different things to different people. For me, I am always pleased when people connect to our brand. It means we are executing in a manner that speaks to a wide variety of businesses.

I like someone who has a little bad boy in them, a little edge.

I believe that if you think about what style means, you won't become a fashion victim.

When I think of artists that I would have loved to work with, it's Jimi Hendrix. And Steve McQueen. He's not a rock star, but he's kind of a rock star to me.

I never wanted to be the face of the brand. You haven't seen me in my own ads. You don't see my logo all over my clothes. From the beginning, I wanted the clothes to stand on their own.