A day in fashion...

Iconic British style magazine i-D selects 160 designers for Taschen's recent book, Fashion Now 2.

GIORGIO ARMANI

What is more important in your work: the process or the product?

I think for many designers the process is the important thing, and they consider the product more important for the customer than themselves. But without customers you have nothing, so for me both process and product are critical.

DONATELLA VERSACE

How would you describe your work?

The style and ideas come from the same channel: Versace, myself and my team. Everything that goes on the runway and every Versace item is something that I "feel for".

What's your philosophy?

I am driven to push forward, searching for what is modern.

KARL LAGERFELD FOR CHANEL

Is designing difficult for you?

No. I love fashion, the evolution of time, and fashion is the reflection of it.

What's your definition of beauty?

Marlow said: there is no beauty without some strangeness in the proportions.

FENDI

What's your philosophy?

To have the courage to change ideas.

What's your definition of beauty?

Energy

What inspires you?

Anything, but above all the challenges.

PRADA

Is the idea of creative collaboration important to you?

Working as a designer on projects with artists, architects, directors, philosophers and creative people in general feeds my interests and my need of better understanding the complexity of the world we live in.

FRIDA GIANNINI FOR GUCCI

What do you have in mind when you design?

I think of a mood, a way of living, of certain needs for women and men. The possibility to link the history of the Gucci brand, of Gucci's iconic pieces, with contemporary design and styles.

ITALO ZUCCHELLI FOR CALVIN KLEIN

Can fashion have political ambition?

In the past, politics has been influential and reflected in fashion, like the punk movement. Today, so much has changed, and it seems a bit pretentious and out of place to introduce politics.

RENZO ROSSO FOR DIESEL

What inspires you?

Inspiration has no boundaries and can come from anywhere: a picture, a painting, a face, a street, a sound...

What is the most important lesson you've learned?

To listen to people.

YOHJI YAMAMOTO

How have your own experiences affected your work as a designer?

You could write a novel about it, I guess. Everyone has his own private stories which he never speaks about, which he could never speak about, and it's a bit impertinent to ask. It's difficult, isn't it?

TOMMY HILFIGER

Who do you have in mind when you design?

I see everything through a pop culture lens. Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, The Stones, The Who. These guys really paved the way for pop culture and changed the way people think about the world.