I can tell that sometimes I live a very good moment and I'm very joy- ful and optimistic, so I can see more bright colors in my collection. [laughs] Other times I feel so depressed and so sad and I see a lot of darkness. So it really depends. Of course, there are certain rules you have to operate by in terms of markets, and for summer and for winter. But at the end of the day, you are a person and you put a lot of yourself into the clothes. You know, I can never decide what I am going to wear on the day of the show. It depends a lot on which mood I wake up in that day, so I never know.

Venice never quite seems real, but rather an ornate film set suspended on the water.

I don't want to be too 'classic' because it's not in the DNA of Gucci. You need to be a little bit provocative.

If we give girls and women the chance to change their lives, they can change the world.

With men, you need to anticipate all your ideas at least one or two months before the next women's collection, so you need to create a feeling that links with what will happen a few months later. To me, a man and a woman are really a couple. They live together. They grew up in Italy together. So, not just in the stores or the campaigns, but also in real life, it's very important for me to create a connection between them.

When I joined Gucci in 2002, I immediately wanted to make a research trip into the archives because I'd heard about how incredible they were, but I never had the opportunity to visit them.

I'm used to spending a lot of time with my team. They're not only collaborators, they're also friends. It's the biggest part of your life that you share with these people. But sometimes being on the top of this pyramid, you need to be a little bit tough. This job is becoming very tough for every company because of timing. You don't have the time to finish the collection before you have to think about the next one. But I am never loud. I don't like to scream. So we are all working hard, and sometimes you need to reassure them.