Because of what's going on with the economy, I think women are realizing that maybe they don't need a closet full of clothes. They just need the right clothes.

Learn to invest in the best quality you can afford and wear pieces in different ways.

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.

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

China is exciting because it is an extremely curious and interested market. What more can a designer ask for? The client here is bold and willing to try new things, which a country with a long fashion history wouldn't dare. France or England is weighed down by all these rules, elaborate etiquette, do's and don'ts. Things here move incredibly quickly.

People want to look taller and thinner. No one says, 'Ooh! Let me buy that dress because it makes me feel matronly!'

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.