A look from Dries Van Noten's spring collection. Photo: Imaxtree

The WSJ just published a lengthy, intimate profile of Dries Van Noten in which we learned a few fascinating things about the usually private designer.

1. He will never buy into the pre-collections, accessories obsession and mass collaborations favored by his fellow designers: “Personally, I think there is too much fashion in the world. Now you can go on style.com or blogs and there is always another collection launch, cruise, resort, accessories, and on and on and that’s a pity. For me it’s an overdose.”

2. During the Gulf War, he named blazers after Baghdad and skirts after Saddam. US Customs refused to let them in the country. “That nearly caused us bankruptcy,” he said.

3. Though his father was thrilled to send him to fashion school, he wasn’t thrilled with his choice to become a designer. “I told my father, ‘I love designing so much I don’t think I’m going to take over the company. I want to be a fashion designer.’ And he became so angry. He said, ‘If that is the case, you can study what you want, but I won’t pay for it.’”  His father was hoping he’d take the reins of the family’s store outside Antwerp.

4.  Though it’s well known that Barneys was his first client, it turns out they bought his menswear collection and sold it as womenswear.

5. For his first Paris Fashion Week show, he imported pillows from India. God forbid editors and buyers sit on Parisian pillows!