Matthew Williamson Quotes

I think it is really important to have a sense of business. As a designer you can get so wrapped up in the design and fashion side that you forget the business side.

It takes a lot more than just knowing how to put an outfit together to succeed in the fashion industry, so more power to you if this is where you want to be; just don't expect it to be an extended trip to the mall.

Running a fashion business takes the heart of a good gambler. You're always dealing with new things. And there's no guarantee that anything new is going to be successful.

I want to combine a business major with studies in clothing and textiles.

Every single thing I learned about marketing and building my business, I learned from my mom, and she had never been in the workforce. She just had great practical sense.

Designing is so easy - it's the business that is hard. That's why you really have to respect Ralph Lauren - look at what he's done. Anybody who can sustain themselves should be applauded.

People who run a ready-to-wear company are businessmen rather than production or design people.

I always wanted to have my own boutiques. I'm so passionate about clothing and always have been so business-minded.

I had a fundamental love of fashion, of products and accessories. I loved the merchandising side of it and understanding how to maximize sales.

I find, in merchandising and design and creative, a business school degree isn't particularly helpful.

Until my businesses really took off, my family, I think, just assumed I was selling printed T-shirts out of the back of my car. They just couldn't wrap their head around how fashion could be profitable.

I think every athlete is an entrepreneur. Our job is to better our product to present to a new team every year.

To see how much goes into making a fashion business is quite exciting.

At the end of the day, my legacy will not be modelling but my cosmetics line.

I happen to like selling clothes as much as creating them. It isn't relevant unless it sells.

All those lessons that I've learned on the court, I have applied them to my life outside of the court in business, my company, called V Starr interiors, an interior design company, and EleVen, which I wear on court.

In a business, you have a vision, and you follow the vision. You have to execute. And then you have to learn how to run a good business. And I think if you look at the characteristics of any successful fashion business, it's all about that.

It's very important to stay creative and not simply to wait around for people to want you. It's the hardest thing about the business.

We buy and sell goods. We buy low and sell higher - that's what we all do to make a profit. But I consider a merchant someone who has a certain intuition and instinct, and - very important - knows how to run a business, knows the numbers.

I invited a group of students to my studio to expose them to both the creative and business sides of the fashion industry. It was fun because the group was so bright and full of curiosity. They asked really challenging questions about all aspects of the business and absorbed so much information so quickly.

I think my sister and I just focus on working hard. We started off working with Wal-Mart on our first clothing line as an extension of our personal brand when we were 12, and we got to learn about being aware of what was in the market and what wasn't.

I learned at a young age that we were going to have to be personable, going to have to be marketable, and going to have to be creative in order to have a race team.

There's a lot of guys who use their likeness - to do movies, and do other business stuff, but not too many guys are actually making product. I'm making product, it's a different thing. A lot of guys are holding up Coke cans and get paid a lot of money to do that, but no one's making a Coke can. I'm the guy that's trying to make the Coke can.

You have to learn how to read contracts, how to position yourself, and about marketing. That is why you find the most successful artists are the ones who can mix creativity with business.

When a lot of people think about how to be business-savvy as an artist, they think about how to brand themselves. At the end of the day, that stuff doesn't really help you. People know when you're being fake.