Clothes can be important. I am learning this. For instance, often when I design and I wonder what is the point, I think of someone having a bad time in their life.

Now, I'm not saying I'm fashionable, but there are sociological interests that matter to me, things that are theoretical, political, intellectual and also concerned with vanity and beauty that we all think about but that I try to mix up and translate into fashion.

I try to make women feel more powerful without losing their femininity.

I suppose I felt guilty not to be doing something more important, more political. So in a way I am trying to use the company for these other activities.

I think more and more, if you live in the current world - and live internationally - it's all a mix of interests, and the same people who are interested in fashion are also interested in movies, art, and culture.

I was a feminist in the Sixties, and can you imagine? The worst thing I could have done was to be in fashion. It was the most uncomfortable position.

I love uniforms because they allow you to hide. No one knows what you are thinking, so it's a very appropriate and correct way to be yourself.