I've tried to find a new elegance. It's not easy because people want to be shocked. They want explosive fashion. But explosions don't last, they disappear immediately and leave nothing but ashes.

A perfume is more than an extract it is a presence in abstraction. A perfume, for me, is a mystique.

Today, people no longer go out with a total look or ensemble taken straight from the runway. Customers mix and match between labels and between price points. The idea is to create something for yourself: what you want, and how you want it. I realize that shoppers want more flexibility and choice now.

I've always worked. I have always been too responsible. But I don't know how to live any other way. I think that this discipline was also demanded of me by my work.

I believe that my clothes can give people a better image of themselves - that it can increase their feelings of confidence and happiness.

Clean lines have always been important to me, both in terms of interiors as well as fashion. For interiors, I am more interested in textures and surface treatments than bold color or print - the vein on a wood or the shine on a lacquer, for example. I know immediately when something isn't working - usually it's a question of consistency - and I make instantaneous decisions on how to remedy the situation.

In practice, I've had a presence in China since 1998 with my commercial spaces and shops.