Schneider’s women, on the other hand, are cool and cerebral. They are not dry, but simply unfussy. “My woman likes a certain strict, masculine look. She is not of romantic attitude. She is neither the one who wants to bare her skin, nor the Comme des Garcons woman who wants to completely cover herself.”
     Schneider is not interested in androgyny, but much of his work overlaps between the sexes. His gorgeous scarves are unisex, and he likes to create similar garments for men and women. “Many of my customers buy the men’s and the women’s,” he says. “Often it’s the husband and wife who are both my clients and they enjoy to dress similarly. The collection story is always the same, and the fabrics are the same.”
     Schneider was born in a small industrial town near Düsseldorf, where the blue-collar air was not conducive to creativity. Although always creatively inclined, in high school Schneider spent most of his time studying math and science, because he was mortified of being judged on something so subjective as art. At the same time he was an avid consumer of fashion. “I was a big fashion follower when I was a teenager. I spent all my money on clothes,” Schneider says. “I was a fascinated magazine reader — Face, i-D, Blitz. They introduced me to interesting designers like Yohji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood, and Gaultier.“ After graduating, he decided to study fashion design. In 1989 he was accepted to Antwerp Royal Academy, without having sewn a stitch in his life. In 1994, he graduated at the top of his class.