BCC: The paparazzi are certainly doing a great job for you, getting your clothes featured in every magazine, as well as throughout the Web.
Audigier: Every one of them has a picture of Madonna wearing the shirt. It's just crazy and amazing. There is no such thing as bad publicity and in gossip we trust. The people fighting, or getting pregnant, or being drunk or on drugs, suddenly it's on CNN. That is good advertising for me. Gossip and the Internet are really important today. This is the new world — the one that I don't understand. I don't even know how to go onto a computer myself.
BCC: I noticed that about your office. One might say that you have a unique approach.
Audigier: It's very simple. I don't have a desk. I don't know how to use a computer. I don't have any phones and my cell phone is on silent. I check my cell phone every two hours.
BCC: That system seems to work very well for you and has provided you with a lot of success.
Audigier: Because I know my job very well. I know the way to do it. I know what the public is waiting for, and I'm looking at the competition, you know. And that is the most important, like in sports when you look at the tape of the opposing team to see how they play. Life is a big contest. You have to win to get better, and for that, you have a lot of competition that you need to pass and be better than to get into first place.
BCC: Are you competitive by nature?
Audigier: Life is a big fight. I learned that in America, you need to be the best. You cannot be number two or number three. You need to be the top notch. And with Von Dutch and Ed Hardy, I proved that I can do that, two times. Three times with Christian Audigier. Today, I am the creator of the word marketing. What I did in fashion is revolutionary. Putting my stuff on celebrities and making a brand huge, nobody did that. That is my claim to fame.
BCC: That passion to win is something you seem to instill in your employees.
Audigier: We need to win. We need to make our customers happy. When you are going to shows, you need to be the winner. When you're doing a runway, you need to be the best. When you're selling to department stores, you need to have the window. We need to always put forth the effort to be the best.
BCC: Despite your will to win, you still manage to maintain a normal life at home.
Audigier: I am a family man outside of this. I have a wife and three kids. I'll have fourth kid in September. I start work at 7 a.m. every morning and I try to go back home by 6 p.m. This is my life. I have to take care of my kids when they say, 'Papa, papa.' I need to spend the most time that I can with my family, you know. I have two jobs, one is to be a father and the other is to be a businessman during the day. My family keeps me stable.
BCC: How would you describe your personality?
Audigier: I don't know, they call me Le Vif. Le Vif means the fast one in French. The fast and the furious. I'm driving fast, you know, and you have to run after me. And I just have a passion for my work. And today my work changed because I was a designer, and now I'm a businessman. It's still really fun. I'm just really blessed. It's fun to come to work every day.
BCC: Do you have a fear of failure that keeps you on top?
Audigier: I stay on top because of a lot of people. I don't stay on top because of myself. I believe to the sales people, to the people delivering the goods, to the people selling on the phone, and the people at the financial office, they all walk in with a lot of passion. They know that we have something, and that this is a bigger opportunity for all of us.
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