The most tragic moment of my life was the first show I ever designed for. I had been asked to make shoes for Ossie Clark's show in the early '70s. I was so inexperienced that I didn't put the steel in the heels of the shoes, which is required to support the shoe and the wearer. So the girls came out walking very strangely in these rubber, bendy high-heeled shoes I had made. I thought 'Oh dear god! This is the end of me.' But after the show, even David Hockney and Cecil Beaton said to me 'It was so interesting that the girls were moving in such a different way.'

I really connect with Victoria Beckham's desire to do something that she wants to do. Of the girls we've been talking about, she's one of the few that has this incredible sort of "I want to do it, and I want to do it well."

I always love China, especially the old China.

I wish I was making shoes instead of reading or watching movies, which is what I do in my free time.

About half my designs are controlled fantasy, 15 percent are total madness and the rest are bread-and-butter designs.

I get more tired by travelling than anything.

People walk differently in high heels. Your body sways to a different kind of tempo.