A piece of fabric can get me going.

I don't have the luxury of making clothes just to make an effect. It can't be something totally frivolous, because my distributors have to have a successful season, too.

I never intended being a business person I wanted to be a fashion designer.

Longing and desire goes further than instant satisfaction. That's human nature.

There are always different influences each season. It could be a person, it could be a piece of furniture; it depends on what I'm obsessing about.

I knew since the age of four that I wanted to be a clothing designer. I read an article in LIFE magazine about two young ladies that graduated from Parsons School of Design, and when they graduated they went to Paris and Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor opened a boutique for them. So I thought, "Oh, I just have to go to Parsons, that's all."

You have to focus on your dreams, even if they go beyond common sense.