I put pressure on myself to propose something new - I think it's the minimum that you can do as a fashion designer.

Fashion, in a way, has become like pop culture today. With all of the communications and the Internet and the designers doing lines with big brands, it's more popular than it's ever been, but everything is all mixed together. It's become like television or music.

I'm always curious. Every day. As we get on in life, we must be grateful.

I've always been fascinated by people's capacity to care. Everyone has a different capacity for it. Some people can take on more and deal with more. Today, with the economy, I have such respect for the hard work that has to be done. But we're on this planet and we have a responsibility to ourselves to care.

You need something that puts a little distance between what you really are and what you want to show; it's a shield, a protection.

I don't feel French at all. That was never really a concern, and it's limiting to think that way. I think Paris is more of a playground for international designers, so I don't really feel French. And I don't really want to feel French.

As designers, we do so much with material and construction. It's really architectural; it comes close to building. A scent is so immaterial. It's really about emotion and sensation. Clothes are too, but it's not the same.