In his East London studio, Gareth Pugh spoke to Crane.tv about his creative process. While no mention of crystal toilets , he did describe those woolly pieces that look like fur, but are not, as well as his latest project with choreographer Wayne McGregor for the Royal Opera House and the best piece of advice he’s gotten from his mentor, Rick Owens:

“The best thing Rick Owens ever told me was how to say no…I think he means by saying that, you need time to be able to think. Rick tends not to do a lot of things that are outside of his world. You know he lives and breathes there, 24 hours a day, whereas sometimes with me, I really like to work on different projects, and sometimes those different projects can really get in the way of actually seeing the wood from the trees…It’s like having a tiny little packet of butter; to butter a whole loaf sometimes you are spread a little too thinly.”