As a kid I collected stamps, pebbles on the beach, anything. I liked to have at least 10 of something.

I think 'tradition' is in the past - and how can someone really 'fear' a color? A man may prefer navy to turquoise, but a self assured man could wear any color and he knows that. It's a distinction of confidence.

Before I started LimoLand, I mainly bought my clothes in Harlem, where I found clothing my size in fun colors. I still like to go there and see the vibrancy and colors of the neighborhood. I am also very influenced by the colors of my contemporary African and Japanese art collections.

If I had done what I was programmed to do, I would now be sitting in a car factory looking at the sizes of wheels, or wondering how to get credit to start a new factory in Russia.

It would be much easier to just make black, brown and beige clothes. But I do not see the world in black and white and beige. I find colors incredibly important.

In the last 20 years of collecting contemporary African art, I have been bombarded by incredible shapes and colors that I now want to translate into clothes.

As a kid I collected stamps, pebbles on the beach, anything. I liked to have at least 10 of something.