More than anything, I'm designing for a woman of today. I want to be a witness of my time.

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

That's what I think when people do their "best stuff" collection. When you start to think, "Oh, I will just present my 10 years of work," that's not a good sign.

I think when a time comes, a change comes, and you have to recognize the change but also believe in yourself.

Naturally looking at something will become so important in your aesthetic. For that, you have to be disciplined, too, in the way that there is a moment to catch and there is a moment to express. The moment to express has to be so pragmatic, because you have to build the clothes; you have to be very, very specific about how you want to describe to other people, for the color of the fabric, the way of sewing things, putting things together.

Your priority has to be the creativity - and build a brand. That's what everybody did - Balenciaga, Dior, Saint Laurent. That's the smart thing to do.

For a long time, my uniform consisted of a trench coat, wide flared jeans, and little bottines - I copied a pair that my mother had in this theater place. I had, like, 10 pairs of the same shoes.