I've always thought of the T-shirt as the Alpha and Omega of the fashion alphabet.
What I hate is nasty, ugly people. You have to always work against what you did before, and even against your taste. I like the irony in my work. It's really easy to get colors right. It's really hard to get black - and neutrals - right. Black is certainly a color but it's also an illusion.
Confidence. If you have it, you can make anything look good. You can't just buy things for the label - it's ridiculous. Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them. I adore the challenge of creating truly modern clothes, where a woman's personality and sense of self are revealed. I want people to see the dress, but focus on the woman. Design is a series of creative choices - it's a collaborative effort, an evolutionary process. You choose your fabrics depending upon what you want to say, then you work with mills to get those fabrics. Through the process, you realize what you want it to be.
Fashion fosters cliches of beauty, but I want to tear them apart.
My relationships with producers or photographers - these are relationships that took years. I love to design things that people can actually buy. I'm staggered by what a boot costs today. I like the body. I like to design everything to do with the body. You can hide so much behind theatrics, and I don't need to do that any more.
Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury. Attitude is everything. I like things simple. Brides today are increasingly sensitive to the tastes, feelings and finances of their attendants. I'm an accomplice to helping women get what they want.
My customers are successful workingwomen. You have to stay true to your heritage; that's what your brand is about. You can only go forward by making mistakes. Brides today are increasingly sensitive to the tastes, feelings and finances of their attendants. A woman has the age she deserves.
I never like to think that I design for a particular person. I design for the woman I wanted to be, the woman I used to be, and - to some degree - the woman I'm still a little piece of. Today, I'm very happy about myself, because I realized my dreams. I learned how to understand what people want. I try as much as possible to give you a great basic product and what comes out, I feel, is really amazing. We look our best in subdued colors, sophisticated cuts, and a general air of sleek understatement. I am especially grateful that I have been able to keep my own style over the decades, in spite of the many changes that have taken place in the world of fashion and in its business.
When I was young, I lived like an old woman, and when I got old, I had to live like a young person. Fashion fosters cliches of beauty, but I want to tear them apart. Women are more sure of themselves today. They don't have to emulate the way men dress. I like the body. I like to design everything to do with the body.
There is always an emotional element to anything that you make.
What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today when human contacts go so fast. Fashion is instant language. I've always tried to push myself technically and to push myself visually. That's been part of the journey. Never in my wildest dreams did I entertain the idea that I would become a fashion designer. Insecurity is a waste of time. I like the things around me to be beautiful and slightly dreamy, with a feeling of worldliness.
I think it's the responsibility of a designer to try to break rules and barriers.
I have my permanent muses and my muses of the moment. You have to stay true to your heritage; that's what your brand is about. Age and size are only numbers. It's the attitude you bring to clothes that make the difference. If I had the power, I would ban leggings.
Delete the negative; accentuate the positive! For me, art is about learning and about living with people. It's alive. Jeans represent democracy in fashion. Fashion never stops. There is always the new project, the new opportunity. It's really easy to get colors right. It's really hard to get black - and neutrals - right. Black is certainly a color but it's also an illusion.
