So what is the man, whose long hair, goatee and tanned complexion make him look like an ageing rocker, doing backstage at a fashion show by one of the world’s top luxury brands? Stussy has collaborated with the French label on a collection, and he’s the first to say how unreal it all feels.

“Not in a million years would I have thought that I would be working with Dior,” he says. “Maybe I dreamed about it, maybe there was a dream but never a reality to be able to make this kind of level of clothes.”

“It was a really easy process,” says Stussy of the collaboration, “but it’s a completely different world. When I was doing my own thing it was a one-man band. I had no assistants – a small studio, but no team … This is wonderful, to see this team and their work.

“It’s been interesting to see that it’s a family feel and how tight the team is, and [how they are] able to do all this and this level of business.”

Stussy has kept a fairly low profile since leaving his eponymous brand, and he spends much of his time in Hawaii, where he can indulge in his first passion, surfing. The time away from the spotlight has, he says, renewed his approach to design.

“Now I feel fresh because I want to do this and I don’t have to do it,” says Stussy. “It’s Dior – come on, it’s the top of the top. I’ve been asked many times by other companies [to work with them] but it was just doing the same thing I was doing before, so it wasn’t interesting.

“This had the potential to be a project out of my comfort zone and taking me to a different level of technique. The fabrics, construction – everything is on another level.”

Making logo T-shirts and hoodies is a far cry from working with a label that is able to hand-bead shirts, embroider fine details onto sweaters and create luxurious tailoring meant for a privileged few.

“It was wonderful to see my simple graphic artwork turn into all these colours and [to see] all the couture techniques, like beading. I come from sportswear, so to have that couture level and craftsmanship was very intriguing to me,” Stussy says. “That’s what made me do it.”

The collaboration features Stussy’s line work, which he drew in black and white; Jones and his team added pastel hues reminiscent of Miami. The colourful collection of surfer-inspired looks, juxtaposed with easy tailoring, is cleverly styled, with fun accessories such as flower-embellished hats and Air Jordan Dior trainers, another collaboration that made headlines after the show.

“Surfing has always been my life, since I was a little boy. I’ve always made surfboards. It’s just my life, so it’s not an influence to me,” says Stussy. “I don’t have to sit around and say, ‘Now I’m going to do a surf collection’. I’ve always had that life.”

Fashion was also part of his life growing up. “I was a flea market kid, like all surfers, and there was an interest in fashion,” he explains.

“My mom and her sister sewed, so I was always around machines and patterns. Fashion was always there, and then I was making surfboards, and then a shirt, and then pants and shorts. It was never, ‘I’m going to start a brand and let’s make a collection and try to sell it’ – [it was] a slow process.”

One can’t help but wonder if this return to fashion has ignited in Stussy the desire to come back to design full time – especially as luxury fashion and streetwear are becoming ever more intertwined.

“It’s a big mash-up. I think it’s great; it’s a natural evolution,” says Stussy. “But to me it’s always been one thing, all things mixed together; it’s my life. This has been fun and I’m having a good time after a long time away. My boys are grown and I’m on my own and travelling, so I’m not taking anything off the table.”