You began learning your craft with the help of former president of Calvin Klein Menswear, Joe Serino – from establishing relationships with production mills, studying cut and design from Italian tailors and pattern makers. How has this traditional craft experience influenced your creative process?

Italian pattern-making and tailoring are indeed one-of-a-kind, unparalleled processes. You quickly realize when designing that the reason for such traditions is that they really do result in a more refined product.

You are a master of the “understated luxury” aesthetic, with your pieces looking rough but in reality are sumptuous creations, handcrafted from luxe fabrics. What do you think it is about this juxtaposition that people find so fascinating?

Menswear is about comfort and quality. It’s about a refinement that doesn’t have to announce itself from far away. I appreciate clothes that have a more masculine roughness without losing style and luxuriousness. I don’t like them to feel imposing either.

Cleverly, your pieces are very often practical as well as having a manly sophistication. How challenging is it to create multipurpose items (such as reversible jackets) while still maintaining a degree of luxury?

I think the more pieces reverse and become multipurpose, the more luxurious they become.

From artist Willem de Kooning to Andy Warhol, you are continually inspired by icons of the New York art world. How do you manage to work with elements from these scenes and still create pieces that are relevant in the contemporary world?

Whatever my inspiration may be, I always have my New York contemporaries in mind as they are my intended audience. It’s not really about copying looks from the past but filtering out an idea and repositioning it on a man today. I also think that some basic principles – utility, individuality and simplicity – are pretty timeless, especially for menswear.

For your Autumn/Winter collection you worked with acclaimed artist, photographer and Warhol collaborator Gerard Malanga. How did this partnership come about? What appealed to you so much about his famous Warhol screen tests?

I met Gerard through my friend, the gallery owner Tony Shafrazi. I became interested in Gerard’s work through his photographs. After he left The Factory in 1970, he spent years going around photographing writers, artists and poets. There was a style to that world that I tried to document through silhouettes and fabrics. Gerard photographed my look book and recreated the screen tests, this time turning his camera on members of the current New York art scene. These screen tests also became a video supplement to the lookbook.

You exhibited the results of your Malanga collaboration in an exhibition at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris. Is a gallery environment one that you find more relevant for showcasing your work?

I think it’s a great alternative to putting on a runway show because the space actually allows the viewer to stop, examine and move around the clothes. This way the work stands out. It was particularly fitting to run Malanga’s screen tests in a gallery so that people could actually take the time to watch them – they are a wonderful addition to the collection.