Working in the old fashion house is like how your parents raise you and give you this base, and you eventually grow up and have to say, "Well, you gave me this, but now I need to go my own way." So, more than finding a balance, it's about taking the good parts of what you've been given and bringing your own thing to it in order to take it all somewhere else - and hopefully, forward.

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.

Florence is probably one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. It's very quiet as well - there's not much nightlife - so it definitely keeps me focused on the work.

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.

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.

I'm incapable of functioning without music. I've always had it in my life. I played the violin when I was a kid, and my mother was a violinist at that point, so it's always been important to me in one way or another. When I work, there's always music cranking.

Things are moving quicker and quicker. The internet age has made everything so immediate that what you're doing can start to feel outdated. That's probably the single thing that will most affect the fashion system in the near future. Time is the biggest subject matter in fashion today.