Every woman should own a shirtdress

Fashion is not like the movie business, where you can have two great projects in a row and then say, "You know what? I'm going to take off eight months." What am I going to tell people? Wear last year's clothes?

I think the trick is, how do you spend time doing it but make it look like you haven't spent time doing it? Over the years you look at women like Lauren Hutton and everyone says: 'She just pulled her hair back and ran out of the door.' I've been in fittings with Lauren and she definitely thinks about it. She just knows how to make it look easy.

People always think that designers hate each other. And we're certainly a competitive lot, but we also enjoy each other's company. No one else knows what you're going through other than another designer.

I love fashion because it's plugged into the zeitgeist, so it's always changing. Thirty years ago, I could never have predicted I'd be where I am today, so I know I don't know what's going to happen in the next five years or the next 20 years. I have my predictions—I'm sure technology will continue to have an impact on fashion, particularly the way people shop. I think quality will be increasingly important—we're moving away from a time of fast fashion. But really, the only constant in fashion is that you must keep moving forward, otherwise you'll be left behind.

If you want to have longevity, then I think that you have to have a point of view, but at the same time still be elastic. Things evolve, the world changes, but people have to know you for who you are so they know what you stand for.

The minute it gets to a runway, you're tempted to do some high jinks. I don't want to show something I won't produce. I want people to wear the clothes I show.