I went to Parsons. American sportswear was my education, and that is what is important to me.

Chris Benz

Categorized in : Me American Education Important

As a designer looking to the future, you don't want to get lost in the archives.

looking you future lost

Let me tell you, I'm not sure if America runs on donuts, but I sure do! Nothin' like a little simple sugar icing to get the blood pumping at 9:00 A.M.

me you simple blood

I'm always inspired by all of my friends. I aspire to make clothes that my friends would want to wear, that they would gravitate towards anyway.

wear friends clothes want

I'd call my work 'instinctual design.' I like to find the spirit of a piece that defies time, age, and occasion. My clothes give the wearer the chance to develop their own voice within a wardrobe, and I think of them as curators of their personal style.

style age work time

I have no problem with being underdressed.

being no-problem problem

I feel like everyone should dye their hair a weird color. If you hate it, you can just dye it back.

feel you hate hair

I always like a woman in power in politics. I think they're pretty inspirational in terms of looks to begin with. It's very calculated.

woman politics power inspirational

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where it's all about being comfortable. I try to bring that undercurrent to what I do. It's great to have beautiful, dressed-up clothes that still feel casual.

feel great clothes beautiful

I love the challenge of taking colors that are totally disparate and making them work together in an interesting way.

colors together work love

I remember watching 'The Carol Burnett Show' with my parents as a kid. All those weird outfits she wore, like turtlenecks and long skirts, really stayed in my head.

weird parents remember long

While at Parsons, I interned at Marc Jacobs, which was great. When I graduated, I went to work at J. Crew; that was also really great.

really great crew work

There is a lack of humor in fashion. To me, it's always been the fun, cool industry to work in, and I always wanted people to be on my side and see how much fun we really have behind the scenes.

cool me work people

I feel like girls should dress down a little bit on the holidays, even though the instinct is to get really dressed up.

holidays dress down feel

I'm drawn to girls with a certain self-effacing, humorous quality and an innate independence and point of view. I love the notion of never taking yourself too seriously or being too put together.

yourself quality together love

Designers and musicians are primed to keep thinking forward. Once an album or collection launches, you can only think about doing the next one.

musicians think you thinking

Growing up in Seattle, I was always that kid who didn't subscribe to what everyone else was wearing.

everyone kid always growing-up

I used to sit in bed at night and flip through design-school catalogs. I found out that Parsons accepted a small number of high school juniors, so I applied my sophomore year and got in.

small high-school night school

I interned with Marc Jacobs in college, then worked at J. Crew. I learned a lot about how to fit clothes and what kinds of things sell and why.

how things clothes college

I always knew I wanted to start my own line. Nights and weekends, I would work on my business plan.

start my-own business work

I have specific playlists for arrivals in different cities. Tokyo skews new wave, Paris more jazz, and New York is Top 40.

new paris jazz new-york