The aim of being a good designer is to have an influence. If you

“The aim of being a good designer is to have an influence. If you design furniture or lifestyle, you should influence the way people evolve globally. It's good to have an influence.” — Olivier Theyskens

In these words, Olivier Theyskens, the poet of fabric and form, speaks not merely of style, but of purpose. For to design — whether it be clothing, furniture, or the rhythms of life itself — is to shape the world in which people live and dream. When he declares that “the aim of being a good designer is to have an influence,” he speaks of more than aesthetic power; he speaks of the responsibility of creation. For design, in its highest form, is not a mirror of the times but a torch that lights the way forward.

To influence is to plant seeds in the soil of human experience — seeds that may grow into movements, cultures, even civilizations. Theyskens, known for his ethereal and emotional approach to fashion, understands that every design carries within it an idea, and every idea, once released, becomes a force in the world. The chair that shapes how one sits, the dress that changes how one stands, the building that frames how one feels — these are not trivial things. They mold the human spirit quietly, daily, globally. To design is to wield invisible power: to touch hearts through form, and to alter lives through beauty.

The ancients, too, understood this sacred influence. When the architects of Egypt raised the pyramids, they did not merely stack stones; they designed a symbol that would shape the human imagination for millennia. The Greeks, with their temples of perfect proportion, did not simply build — they influenced how mankind would forever perceive harmony, order, and the divine. Even in the smallest tools of daily life — a cup, a bench, a lamp — the principles of design taught balance and grace. The ancients knew that when you design something, you also design behavior, thought, and even destiny.

Consider also the story of William Morris, the great craftsman of the 19th century, who sought to restore beauty and dignity to everyday life in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. Surrounded by machines and mass production, he saw a world losing its soul. So he designed not only furniture and wallpaper but a philosophy — that art should be for all, and that every object should carry both usefulness and poetry. His work influenced generations, inspiring both craftsmanship and social reform. Through the curve of a chair and the pattern of a textile, he changed how people lived and how they thought. This is the power that Theyskens speaks of — the good influence that shapes humanity not through force, but through form.

But influence, as Theyskens implies, is not a vanity to be claimed — it is a calling to serve. To design with influence is not to dominate, but to inspire; not to impose one’s will, but to awaken something deeper in others. The true designer does not seek fame, but connection — the quiet transformation that happens when a person sees beauty and feels their world shift, even by a small degree. In this sense, influence is not control, but communion. It is the invisible thread that links creator and humanity in a continuous act of evolution.

The lesson is this: in whatever you create — be it an object, an idea, or a life — aim to influence the world toward goodness. Let your work carry meaning, not mere appearance. Ask yourself, Does what I make uplift? Does it awaken love, understanding, or joy? For every design, no matter how humble, becomes part of the human story. Theyskens reminds us that the measure of a designer — indeed, of any soul — is not in what they possess, but in what they shape within others.

So remember, as Olivier Theyskens teaches, that to design is to influence, and to influence is to guide evolution itself. Your ideas ripple outward, touching lives unseen, shaping generations yet unborn. Therefore, design with conscience. Create with compassion. Influence with light. For the world is always being made anew — not by those who command it, but by those who design it with beauty, intention, and love.