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

I grew up in such a small city, I had to be popular or I'd be dead. So I had to be popular!

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.

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 remember Grace (Coddington) looking at me and said, 'Can you do something?' and I was like, 'OK, how long do you give me?' and she said 'Half an hour?', I said 'Forty-five minutes?'

It's quite strange in fashion, and it's probably the same with movies and acting - the big choice is between being radical, making a choice that will be more specific that will reach less people but will be very strong and very directional, and making a choice that will be more popular and catch the interest of a large group of people. Sometimes people are trying to push you in one direction or another.

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