Esther Dorhout Mees actually has no time for guilty pleasures at all. She is far too busy with the very last preparations for her show in Paris, which takes place on Sunday at the Maison de l’architecture. But she filled out our secret list and maybe danced to an eighties hit in the meantime.

What is your most used excuse?

‘I can’t, I’m working on my collection/show/film/music/editorials…‘ But an excuse is something that is actually not true and it is always true. But it always takes precedence over everything else, so in that sense, it is correct.’

Which movie, TV show, or series makes you cry every time?

‘At the last scene of ‘La vita e Bella’.

Your ultimate guilty pleasure?

‘80’s music, macarons, everything from M.A.C Cosmetics and ear piercings.’

What bad music do you secretly enjoy?

‘Hits from the 80s! Like ‘Take On Me’ by a-ha, Delicious, wrong, and it remains enjoyable. Of course, I was hugely in love with the comic version of the singer in the clip. So there’s a lot of nostalgia for me involved.’

What is your secret hobby?

‘Just walking through big cities, getting lost, discovering, thinking… That makes me so intensely happy. You experience everything so much more intensely and see so much more. I can really enjoy the peace you get when everyone around you speaks a different language.’

‘Just walking through big cities, getting lost, discovering, thinking… That makes me so intensely happy.’

And your strangest trait?

‘I love things-to-do lists making. Preferably physically, alongside everything I already have digitally. That gives me more peace. I also always have my little black book with me and it lies next to my bed at night.’

Do you have an obsession?

‘Double-checking the lock on my door while I already know it’s locked. Isn’t that strange?’

What would people really not expect from you?

‘That I can also be very strict. I am naturally very sweet, but when it comes to my work, I stand up for it stronger than sometimes for myself.’

What is your biggest pointless irritation?

‘Irritation is by definition pointless, of course, but I always have it with people who wait before they dare to take action instead of looking for themselves if something can be done, if someone needs help, or if something can be arranged without it having to be asked first.’

And in terms of food? What do you secretly eat on the couch that you really shouldn’t?

‘I hardly eat things that are unhealthy, unless I choose to do so once in a while, and then there’s nothing sneaky about it. What is very unhealthy and what I need to pay more attention to is that I easily forget to eat and even to drink in busy times like these, in the lead-up to a show. I unconsciously find everything that doesn’t relate to my collection a waste of my time, so even getting up for a glass of water sometimes doesn’t happen.’

Which word do you actually use just a little too often?

‘Probably the word ‘busy’. I read somewhere recently that you shouldn’t say that anymore because you’re doing something wrong in these modern times… Well, I’m doing that completely wrong then ;-).’

More Dorhout Mees? Then check out here her creations.