Chris Benz

“As a designer looking to the future, you don't want to get lost in the archives.”

“I remember watching 'The Carol Burnett Show' with my parents as a kid. All those weird outfits she wore, like turtlenecks and long skirts, really stayed in my head.”

“I used to sit in bed at night and flip through design-school catalogs. I found out that Parsons accepted a small number of high school juniors, so I applied my sophomore year and got in.”

“Let me tell you, I'm not sure if America runs on donuts, but I sure do! Nothin' like a little simple sugar icing to get the blood pumping at 9:00 A.M.”

“Life in New York is one of succumbing to a tidal wave of control and direction, of numbing oneself to emotion.”

“I love how New York as an idea is less a paradigm of manifest destiny and more a romance for the social orphans of the world. We live here to be among the towers and the crowds.”

“I have a fleet of Rimowa Topas aluminum suitcases! They're all covered in stickers from around the world.”