When I was a young boy, growing up in Durham, North Carolina, the women in my family were truly passionate about their clothes; nothing was more beautiful to me than women dressing with the utmost, meticulous attention to accessories, shoes, handbags, hats, coats, dresses and gloves to attend Sunday church services.

Wearing clothes should be a personal narrative of emotion. I always respond to fashion in an emotional way.

Look at 'American Idol,' which I don't look at. Those winners haven't become household names except for Jennifer Hudson, and she was a reject. You can't aim to be a household name. You just have to be successful.

I'm usually at home and in bed by 10 o'clock. I do not want to be out at anybody's New Year's Eve party.

At an early age I discovered the beauty in pictures in 'Vogue' magazine and Ebony magazine, and I would read 'The New York Times.' I had to make my own world within my world because I was an only child.

People love fashion exhibits because they can fantasize. They can respond to a dress even if they can never wear a dress like that.

The late Estee Lauder says you can never wear white shoes after Labor Day. But of course, in today's world, that does not exist.