Paris is one of the most incredible places to live. Once you get bitten by the city, you never leave.

I'm not intellectual at all as a designer. Whatever I'm into at the moment is usually what becomes the collection.

That's always my downfall - when I start not having fun or not feeling passionate about what I'm doing. But that's why I love Emilio Pucci. There are some design houses that operate on a more intellectual level, but the way Pucci has always worked is more spontaneous and instinctual.

The year before was my first collection for Emilio Pucci, and I was just starting the job and working in his Renaissance Palazzo, where Pucci is headquartered, so that inspired me. I found this image in the book. It was an old image of Emilio Pucci hanging out by the seaside with all of these women, and that's exactly how I used to think about this house - more of a lifestyle thing. This beautiful life. So I'm really working on that.

I feel like I have to go back to Paris every so often. It just grows on you - the look of the city, the way people hang out there. If you're in Europe, it's good for that.

I want Pucci woman to be a Pucci girl. That's number one, because I think she should have that vibe that corresponds with today. Emilio Pucci - the house is, I think, 63 years old now. It's an old house. The Pucci woman from the beginning would be 80 years old or something today, so I've kind of had to update her.

People always ask me, "Oh, do you ever want to start your own thing?" And I don't, actually. I think what I enjoy most is the sort of co-production of things, where you bring something and somebody else brings something and a kind of alchemy happens.