I spent a long time learning how to construct clothes, which is important to do before you can deconstruct them.

Clothes and jewellery should be startling, individual.

Women should look like women. A piece of cardboard has no sexuality.

London's where I was brought up. It's where my heart is and where I get my inspiration.

Some couture collections have everything including the kitchen sink! Everything gets thrown on to make it look expensive.

I was literally 3 years old when I started drawing. I did it all my life, through primary school, secondary school, all my life. I always, always wanted to be a designer. I read books on fashion from the age of twelve. I followed designer's careers. I knew Giorgio Armani was a window-dresser, Emanuel Ungaro was a tailor.

I am constantly trying to reflect the way women are treated. It's hard to interpret that in clothes or in a show but there's always an underlying, sinister side to women's sexuality in my work because of the way I have seen women treated in my life. Where I come from, a woman met a man, had babies, moved to Dagenham, two up two down, made the dinner, went to bed. That was my image of women and I didn't want that. I wanted to get that out of my head.