I wish fashion would have changed a bit more; obviously, there is change, but it's not enough - for example, I don't think there's enough diversity in fashion on the catwalk, in magazines. I really would love to push that more.

When you build a big empire, you become the persona that people think they know. So when you try to show them who you are, to help them discover you, they just want what they think they know about you. I would have been smarter to build some relationships when I was younger, a private love or something. Today it is more difficult. But it's the price to pay. I never regret anything, because every choice I made for a reason, but I'd love personal love.

I think the only word I can use to describe what I'm doing today is feeling free. Of course, it's a business - it's about money at the end of the day, but it's about ideas as well. When you treat fashion only like a business, you're not going to go anywhere; when you push on that, we have the chance to express ourselves.

Even if I'm the youngest in the group, I'm the one taking care of everybody. I'm always in control, which means that I can see what everyone around me is doing, what they're going to do. At the end of the day, I make sure to never let go of that control.

There are two women that I am really in love with that I wish I could have dressed: The first one is Marilyn Monroe, and the second is Whitney Houston. People always ask me who's going to be the next, and I never know, but I know I would love to have had Marilyn and Whitney wear Balmain.

You're taught that you need to please magazines, to please the fashion elite, and that if you do everything the right way, everyone is going to love you. But I decided not to follow some of the rules. My girls from the runway were not just models - they were soldiers. They helped me bring my ideas to life. I was talking about sexiness, about diversity, about different shapes of bodies. I was following my instincts and learning that it would not please the fashion elite. And I think this is the real luxury, to be free to express yourself. Freedom is luxury to me.

I actually am locked away. I think I have 4.6 million Instagram followers, which is obviously a great way to communicate my work and my life. But it's also a form of protection, because I don't want everybody to see my process. What I want to share in the pictures I post is something dreamier than reality. I love solitude. I love escaping into my mind and sketching. Sometimes I travel alone. I'm the first one at the office in the morning, the last one closing the door. People don't expect that, because on Instagram I have a reputation as a party boy who takes selfies all day.