REI KAWAKUBO: I don’t feel I have ever been influenced in any concrete way by nature or the natural world as such. Nature is strong as it is. In the same way as nature is strong by its very existence, without having to be “designed,” I try to make strong clothes. But this is an extremely difficult thing to do. I have never made anything consciously thinking about Japan, either. I just spend every day looking for something new, something that goes beyond any cultural references and which has nothing to do with where I am from