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

Put on a trench, you're suddenly Audrey Hepburn walking along the Seine.

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

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.

Seventy per cent of the clothes you own should be meat and potatoes. Thirty per cent should be icing and fluff - that's colour, pattern, shine, accessories. Too many women get the proportions the other way round, then can't figure out why they can't get dressed.

Clothes are like a good meal, a good movie, great pieces of music.