When you see a woman wearing McQueen, there’s a certain hardness to the clothes that makes her look powerful. It kind of fends people off.

Fame should be left to the film stars.

Now I design what I want to wear, and it works that way.

My friend George and I were walking on the beach in Norfolk, and there were thousands of [razor-clam] shells. They were so beautiful, I thought I had to do something with them. So, we decided to make [a dress] out of them. . . . The shells had outlived their usefulness on the beach, so we put them to another use on a dress. Then Erin [O’Conner] came out and trashed the dress, so their usefulness was over once again. Kind of like fashion, really.

I just want to be a wallflower. Nondescript. Just not anything. I don't want to see me.

I come from a different era and I design clothes for our era. I think of people I want to dress when I design.

It's almost like putting armor on a woman. It's a very psychological way of dressing.