I was always shouted at by my teacher because I would draw straight on the table in the school.

Shoes are a mirror of what you want, what you are or what you're missing

My father, who was a cabinetmaker, told me, 'Wood has a grain and if you go into the grain, you have beauty. If you go against it, you have splinters - it breaks.' And I took that as my view of life. You have to follow the grain - to be sensitive to the direction of life.

A shoe is not only a design, but it's a part of your body language, the way you walk. The way you're going to move is quite dictated by your shoes.

My drawing for women is really curvy. My drawings for men are actually quite angular.

Cinderella is not only an iconic character when it comes to beauty, grace and fairytale love, but also shoes.

Everyone has their dates. For me, it's 1991. I can place every memory of my life either before or after this date. It's the year I became an adult. My mother died, and I created my company shortly thereafter. I definitely would not have done it if she hadn't passed away.