25 Most Stylish Bostonians of 2008 -- Mohsen Mostafavi

Mohsen Mostafavi

Residence: Cambridge

Occupation: Dean, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design

Age: 54

How would you describe your personal style? Highly informal probably, or calculated casual. I don't really wear suits that often, and when I do it's very rare that I ever wear a tie. At the same time, since a lot of the time I'm in an environment where people are wearing suits and ties, my style has to have some level of finish to it.

What has been your best fashion investment over the years? It is probably a suit designed by Helmut Lang. I bought this thing against my own best judgment because a friend of mine, [architect] Zaha Hadid, almost forced me to buy it. I regretted it at the time because it was so expensive, but I've come to really appreciate it. It's a suit that is so versatile.

What do the aesthetics of fashion and architecture have in common? I think one thing that's very interesting about fashion is its immediacy and the fact that you can see things and you can test things very quickly. Architecture, unfortunately, is very slow. In fashion they create a prototype, and you see it and you touch it and you can make a decision. In architecture, if we could emulate that process, it would make some things easier.

What fashion stereotype would you most like to dispel about architects - the turtlenecks, the small spectacles, the all-black ensembles? I think these are all true! I think it's hard to dispel any of them. I am as much a victim of these so-called myths as anyone.