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Jason Wu

Jason Wu Quotes

Fashion designer

Jason Wu, born on September 27, 1982, is a renowned fashion designer from Taiwan. His unique design style, which blends Eastern and Western elements, has won him great popularity among the fashion industry and celebrities. Wu graduated from Parsons The New School for Design in 2004 and quickly made a name for himself in the fashion world. His designs have been showcased at international fashion weeks and have been featured in numerous fashion magazines.

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All Thinking Want Designer Way Dresses Fashion Feels Careers Clothes Important

Famous Jason Wu Quotes

“I worked 10 years as a toy designer before I started my career as a fashion designer. It's something I just fell into and really liked.”

Years Careers Fashion Designer Toys Fashion Designer

Author:Jason Wu

“Being feminine in the way you dress doesn't have to compromise who you are as a woman or your career.”

Way Careers Dresses Who You Are Compromise Feminine

Author:Jason Wu

“Designers have always shown outlandish and exuberant clothes, but that hasnt always translated to the streets.”

Streets Clothes Designer Outlandish

Author:Jason Wu

“I am an Asian designer. I was born in Taiwan. That is who I am. But I am a designer, like any designer of any race. Growing up in the '80s in Taiwan, the arts were not considered a career.”

Art Born Race Careers Growing Up Growing Who I Am Designer 80s Asian Taiwan

Author:Jason Wu

“I think clothing is transformative. When you put something really beautiful on, you feel something. In so many ways, were always playing a form of dress-up - its just a grown-up, much chicer version of it. Its nice to be able to be whoever you want to be.”

Thinking Way Want Feels Able Beautiful Form Nice Dresses Versions Clothings Really Beautiful

Author:Jason Wu

“We all want to be a little glamorous, a little playful and a little mischievous at times.”

Want Littles Glamorous Mischievous

Author:Jason Wu

“I love a little bit of glamour and I love tall girls.”

Littles Girl Bits Little Bit Tall Glamour Tall Girl

Author:Jason Wu

“Actually, I'm probably 99-and-a-half percent plastic now.”

Half Percent Plastic

Author:Jason Wu

“I miss All Stars, by the way. I was just telling people: how am I going to get by until January?”

People Way Stars Missing January All Stars

Author:Jason Wu

“When I was growing up, you sort of did the unthinkable. You did something that has never really been replicated.”

Growing Up Growing Unthinkable

Author:Jason Wu

“when I moved to Canada in '93, I started reading fashion magazines, and that's where I spotted the M.A.C ad that RuPaul were in. That's sort of how I first "met" you - in the red bodysuit. That was so iconic to me.”

Firsts Reading Fashion Mets Red Moved Magazines Canada Ads Iconic Fashion Magazines

Author:Jason Wu

“The way my mom dressed was one of my earliest inspirations, in those '80s suits with shoulder pads and things like that. For years, I ran away from that style. But now, all I want to do is shoulder pads and nipped-in waists and padded hips and peplums and poufed dresses.”

Way Want Years Inspiration Style Mom Dresses My Mom Shoulders Suits Hips Ran 80s Pads

Author:Jason Wu

“My parents loved me, and I think they realized that I was probably not going to have a normal 9-to-5 job. For the longest time, my dad thought that I was just going to be home until I was, like, 35, which, weirdly, is completely normal in Asian families.”

Thinking Home Jobs Parent Dad Normal My Dad Asian

Author:Jason Wu

“In American culture you leave home at 18. In the Asian culture, your parents don't really want you to leave home. So my parents just thought I was going to be one of those kids. I was like, "I'm never going to make a living at whatever I do." I just liked pretty things.”

Want Home Kids Culture Parent Asian American Culture Pretty Things Asian Culture

Author:Jason Wu

“I didn't understand anything about fashion until I moved to Canada when I was 9. That's when I learned English and was exposed to fashion magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.”

Fashion Moved Magazines Canada Exposed Fashion Magazines

Author:Jason Wu

“I had a hard time in middle school. I was never really quite me until I was 16 or 17, and things like bullying didn't matter anymore.”

Matter Hard School Middle Hard Times Bullying Middle School

Author:Jason Wu

“For a while, I just thought that I wanted to be an illustrator because that's all I wanted to do. I also did some sculpting. It was always very artsy and very feminine, everything that I did.”

Wanted Feminine Illustrators Sculpting

Author:Jason Wu

“It's nice to be able to be whoever you want to be. I moved to New York for that reason. I think I am a very good example of how you really can do whatever you want to do without having any kind of prerequisite experience of any of kind of connection. None of my family members came from this world.”

Thinking World Want Kind Reason Able Can Do Nice New York Example This World Members My Family Connections Moved Very Good Family Members Good Examples Prerequisites Do Whatever You Want

Author:Jason Wu

“I was very preppy in my childhood. I also went through an anti-clothing moment where I just wanted to wear sweats because I'd just moved to Canada. My mom was always trying to get me into proper clothes, but I never wanted to wear them, and now that's all I wear.”

Trying Moments Wanted Childhood Mom Clothes Moved My Mom Canada Sweat Clothings Always Trying Preppy

Author:Jason Wu

“My mom used to take me to antique shows, which I hated because everything was so dusty and old and there were all these weird ladies selling their antiques. We call them "eclectic" now. But it was really amazing that I was exposed to that when I was younger. Now that I have my own taste, I understand it more.”

Shows Used My Own Mom Taste My Mom Selling Hated Take Me Exposed Antiques Eclectic Really Amazing

Author:Jason Wu

“I would love to take an old space and restore it to exactly the way I want it. Like an old factory, just something with great bones and lots of character. I'd take an old house and flip it into something very modern inside, or the other way around.”

Way Want Character House Space Modern Bones Factories Flip Old Houses

Author:Jason Wu

“I don't collect things per se, but I do pick up things as I go. Like, in my studio I have an old sewing machine from Germany that my dad gave me, and then something else that I got from a friend in India, and a piece of flooring from one of my shows.”

Shows Pieces Dad Picks Machines India My Dad Studios Germany Sewing

Author:Jason Wu

“My inspirations come from everywhere. It's important to look at everything and anything.”

Looks Important Inspiration

Author:Jason Wu

“I think what I create is serious fashion, but I don't want to keep my focus on that. You have to look at a lot of different things. I mean, people are always surprised when they find out that my favorite show is RuPaul's Drag Race.”

People Thinking Want Looks Mean Different Shows Race Focus Fashion Serious My Favorite Different Things Drag Mean People

Author:Jason Wu

“When I was 12 or 13 I already knew that I was gay. And then my interests were not conventional. So I was very different, in every sense of the word. And in an all-boys school, that's tough.”

Different School Interest Boys Gay Tough Conventional

Author:Jason Wu

“My parents are very comfortable with the way that I am, and I think they've always been. Without that, I don't think that I would have ever have been able to grow into the person that I am today. I never felt like I was hiding anything from them.”

Thinking Way Persons Has Beens Today Able Grows Felt Parent Comfortable Hiding

Author:Jason Wu

“I always have the TV on. When there's no TV, I play music. I like having noise. I think that's why New York is so suitable for me, because it's never really fully quiet.”

Thinking Play New York Tvs Quiet Noise Suitable

Author:Jason Wu

“I need to feel like I'm part of something. I need to feel part of the world when I go to sleep.”

World Needs Feels Sleep Going To Sleep

Author:Jason Wu

“You're always in the mode of creating the next season. It's so fast, and in two months, the collection you just did is already old, and it's always next, next, next.”

Two Next Months Creating Seasons Collections Two Months

Author:Jason Wu

“I woke up one day and I was like, "I don't have anything to save for myself for the future." That's when I started archiving things. I take four or five things that are really key to each collection, and I restore them or, in some cases, remake parts of them, and archive them.”

Cases Five Four Keys One Day Collections Remakes Archives

Author:Jason Wu

“I realized the importance of archiving. So I save key pieces from my collections, as well as any red-carpet things that become iconic. I always ask for that stuff back. I'm like, "It's going in my archives."”

Wells Asks Stuff Pieces Keys Red Importance I Realized Collections Carpet Iconic Red Carpet Archives

Author:Jason Wu

“I think a beautiful dress on the wrong woman could mean nothing. It has to be the right woman and the right clothes. That's why you need that personal touch. I mean, that's why I went into this business to begin with.”

Thinking Needs Mean Beautiful Clothes Dresses Beautiful Dress Personal Touch

Author:Jason Wu

“This is the hardest thing I've ever done, being in fashion business, because that's what it is at the end of the day, a business, and you have to make sure it works.”

Ends Done Fashion Hardest The End Of The Day Hardest Thing Fashion Business

Author:Jason Wu

“I think it's really important to make things your own in your voice. I started when I was 23, and in the beginning of my career, there was this expectation of a young designer being edgier, cooler, more downtown. But I was never that person.”

Thinking Persons Important Young Voice Careers Expectations Designer Downtown

Author:Jason Wu

“The polishedness and the sophistication were what I was interested in. I mean, give me a polka dot, a floral print, a pleated dress, a big fur coat, that was always my language, and it wasn't very "in" when I was starting out, so I had a difficult time in the beginning.”

Giving Mean Bigs Language Difficult Give Me Dresses Starting Print Coats Difficult Times Fur Dots Sophistication Starting Out Fur Coats Polka Polka Dots

Author:Jason Wu

“What I was interested in wasn't popular and young, but I never really deviated from doing it. I just decided that I was going to go full force into exactly what I wanted. I think there's a certain comfort that comes with age and experience, and when I got that, I think my work got better.”

Thinking Age Wanted Young Certain Force Comfort Decided Age And Experience

Author:Jason Wu

“The worst thing is to be a designer and create work that isn't honest. You have to be honest. Otherwise, you'll always be a reaction to what other people do and you'll always be one step behind.”

People Behinds Steps Worst Honest Reactions Being Honest Designer Worst Things

Author:Jason Wu

“As a designer you have to just do whatever you want to do. The second I came to terms with that, it transformed my work.”

Want Term Designer Transformed Do Whatever You Want

Author:Jason Wu

“The idea of transformation is super-important to me. You can see it in the way I approach things. I have never been a clean-faced, freshly scrubbed hair person. I'm the New York designer who doesn't do that. I think about the hair and makeup almost as much as I think about the clothes because it all has to work.”

Thinking Way Persons Important Ideas New York Hair Approach Clothes Transformation Clean Designer Makeup Hair And Makeup

Author:Jason Wu

“I love the idea of working with women because I always feel like a man designing womenswear needs women around him to really have a sense of what they're doing.”

Men Needs Feels Ideas Design

Author:Jason Wu

“Anyone who knows me knows that I don't know anything about politics. Every time I go to Washington, I feel like I'm in Legally Blonde.”

Knows Feels Know Me Blonde

Author:Jason Wu

“In designing for the first lady, I tried to sort of be in her shoes, but I didn't really look at her as an important political figure. I looked at her as a woman who would like to wear a beautiful dress to an important gala.”

Firsts Looks Important Beautiful Political Figures Design Dresses Shoes First Lady Beautiful Dress

Author:Jason Wu

“I guess I accidentally became a part of history. Honestly, when you're young and you're a designer, you have a goal, but that is not the kind of goal that you even think it's possible to achieve.”

Thinking Kind Young Goal Achieve Honestly Designer

Author:Jason Wu

“I don't know if I would want to come back as anything but me. I feel really satisfied. I don't really want to be anyone else. I just feel like I've gotten everything I signed up for as me. I'm happy as me.”

Ifs Knows Want Feels Satisfied

Author:Jason Wu

“I hope being gay isn't the most interesting thing about me.”

Interesting Gay Most Interesting Interesting Things Being Gay

Author:Jason Wu

“My cats are really sassy and sophisticated, but most importantly, they are picky.”

Cat Sophisticated Sassy Picky

Author:Jason Wu

“I love the romance of Paris. I love Angelina [tearoom and pastry shop]. I always get a Mont-blanc [pastry] there.”

Romance Paris Shops Pastries

Author:Jason Wu

“I love old architecture. I love collecting furniture, mixing really earthy things with the very polished. I don't come from an interiors background, so I'm not an expert. I just enjoy going to antiques shows and finding interesting things.”

Shows Enjoy Interesting Findings Architecture Backgrounds Experts Interiors Furniture Collecting Interesting Things Mixing Polished Antiques

Author:Jason Wu

“Buy things you truly love, things that are special, but not a lot of them. It’s about value, not quantity.”

Values Special Quantity

Author:Jason Wu

“I hope I am the antithesis of disposable fashion.”

Fashion Antithesis Disposable

Author:Jason Wu

About the Author

Born: September 27, 1982
Known for: Fashion designer
Quotes: 50

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