In the past, people couldn't place me. They thought that I was Danish or English or French. They never got that I am Italian. I'm not typical, maybe because my visual education was very mixed. There was a lot of London in my aesthetic: The Face, i-D, British music, and a lot of British fashion . . . But I really enjoy this contrast.

Italo Zucchelli

Categorized in : Past Italian Fashion

I love Drake -- he is very talented and I like his effortless attitude in terms of his style and music.

Italo Zucchelli

style term attitude

I'm not inspired by space in that kind of futuristic sense, but I've never liked retro. Of course, we always get references from the past, but that doesn't mean that the clothes have to look like the past. We need to look forward, which is why I'm fascinated by new materials, technologies, techniques, and unusual ways to use colors or textures.

Italo Zucchelli

technology mean past

I really believe in clothes that are new, that are innovative - but that everybody wants to wear.

Italo Zucchelli

clothes want believe

In the office, I actually act quite demented the whole day. Like Monty Python. That's my favorite kind of humor. My assistants sometimes ask me to leave.

Italo Zucchelli

office kind sometimes

Even if things look very precise and very organized, chaos is always there. But I like the moment of chaos to be at the beginning. I cannot deal with the chaos at the end.

Italo Zucchelli

chaos moments

When I come up with an idea for the collection, it's usually very precise, and I would say that every time, you're going to see that idea on the catwalk. It will go through ups and downs, but it's not going to be changed in the last month, that's for sure.

Italo Zucchelli

ups-downs changed

I saw what it means to work every weekend and every night, and I realized it doesn't work for me. It's not necessary. If you know what you want, you can achieve it without going crazy.

Italo Zucchelli

weekend crazy mean

Living in America has made me more practical. And, at the same time, exactly the opposite, because I'm very open to different ways of being and seeing that are completely not practical.

Italo Zucchelli

different

Of course, we always get references from the past, but that doesn't mean that the clothes have to look like the past. We need to look forward, which is why I'm fascinated by new materials, technologies, techniques, and unusual ways to use colors or textures. It's very applicable to Calvin Klein because Calvin Klein has always been about modern-ness.

Italo Zucchelli

technology mean past

I think what I'm doing is quintessentially American because I'm not American - even though I am on the verge of getting my American passport next week - I have a fantasy of what is American. Big spaces, Marlon Brando, James Dean, easy living.

Italo Zucchelli

fantasy week thinking

There are many things Calvin Klein would have never done - he would have never put men in leggings in a show; he would have never done a fluorescent suit - but these are things that are right for the moment. For example, a fluorescent suit is graphic, and Calvin Klein is about being graphic. And Calvin Klein is always modern at its core, so I inject my own research and my own innovation, and I make it my own. But I never deny that core, because that would be stupid.

Italo Zucchelli

innovation stupid men

The rules of the game in general are going to change for everything, not just menswear. People want to have fun with clothes. We sold out of the mirror suits in New York, and the black suits were still there. It tells me that men are looking for something that makes them feel good, makes them have fun, and makes them stand out. And it's all different sorts of men.

Italo Zucchelli

fun men people

I always like to make sense of things that, in theory, would not make any sense together. It's true that the core of Calvin Klein has been . . . I don't want to say conservative, but real clothes that are worn by everybody.

Italo Zucchelli

conservative real together

You don't do things for shock value anymore, because that's not even the language of today. At least, that's not what interests me. If I do it, it's because I want to see things in another way, not necessarily because I want to shock anybody.

Italo Zucchelli

interest language today

The most inspiring thing for me about Calvin Klein was how subversive the advertising's message was. That's what drove me in my creative process and also in my creating now. The new advertising campaign is Calvin Klein the way I see it today. It's also bringing back the kind of subversive element that I always saw in Calvin Klein's campaigns.

Italo Zucchelli

kind creative today

I have to admit, I am aware of my Latin roots now. In the past, people couldn't place me. They thought that I was Danish or English or French. They never got that I am Italian. I'm not typical, maybe because my visual education was very mixed. There was a lot of London in my aesthetic: The Face, i-D, British music, and a lot of British fashion . . . But I really enjoy this contrast. I can go from Lady Gaga to Brian Eno in a split second.

Italo Zucchelli

fashion italian latin

I have a very small team by choice, because I don't believe in teams of 55,000 people.

Italo Zucchelli

team believe people