The craziest thing about fashion people in general, not just designers, is that it's always, "Oh my God, you lost weight! I love your hair!" Or "Oh, you're so tan!" Or, "You're so skinny! I love your shoes!" These are fashion icebreakers. Everyone's always looking at each other.

I not only enjoy it, I think, how do you design things that are applicable to life - unless you live it?

You need to be curious one way or another as a designer. Your eye has to stay curious. I look at people and think about how they live. I think about bodies.

I grew up in a family of people who were obsessed with fashion.

North Americans as a whole need to embrace having clothes altered to their body. I hear it all the time: why do the Europeans always look so good? They have a relationship with their tailor and spend the time and money to make their clothes look their best.

I've always thought of accessories as the exclamation point of a woman's outfit.

I wasn't Barbie-obsessed. I think my mother might have been my Barbie.