We look our best in subdued colors, sophisticated cuts, and a general air of sleek understatement. It's sometimes said that I'm rebellious and I do things to push people's buttons, but I just like the challenge. I have my permanent muses and my muses of the moment. Elegance isn't solely defined by what you wear. It's how you carry yourself, how you speak, what you read. Confidence. If you have it, you can make anything look good.
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. I feel that things happen for a reason and open up new opportunities. You cannot be creative with people around you. Even Michelangelo got paid for doing the Sistine Chapel. To those artists who say they're doing it for the love of art, I say: Get real. I believe that my clothes can give people a better image of themselves - that it can increase their feelings of confidence and happiness.
I want people to be afraid of the women I dress. Nostalgia is a very complicated subject for me. I'm attracted by nostalgia but I refuse it intellectually. A woman has the age she deserves. Design and style should work toward making you look good and feel good without a lot of effort so you can get on with the things that matter. I've treated the waistcoat as if it were a corset, so that it becomes the first layer in the process of putting clothes on the body. There is constant motion between layering and revealing.