‘I find myself with this amazing experience. I want to use it for something that makes me feel that I am part of this moment and that helps me to continue,’ he added, according to WWD.

‘Unless I decide to stay on vacation for the rest of my life, I am pretty sure I have the energy and the knowledge at least to try to do something relevant, something that is part of what people need.’

The former YSL designer made the remarks in conversation with Pamela Golbin, chief curator of the Musee de la Mode et du Textile at the Louvre, in New York last night. The event—part of the French Institute Alliance Francaise’s ‘Fashion Talks’ programme—was planned before the designer was released from his position at YSL and replaced by Hedi Slimane.

The talk provided an opportunity for the self-described ‘complex, passionate’ designer to speak frankly about his career, ambitions, and how he feels about his ouster from YSL.

‘I am really good,’ he said. ‘I am really happy, which is something very unusual for me in a sense that I never believed that it could have been possible to feel happy, at least under these kinds of circumstances.’