It's great advice - to open your eyes, have a little humility, and let go of ego. I think that instills in you a sense of responsibility. I also think you have to feel like you want to enrich your life, and you want to keep your eyes open, and you want to listen and be a good listener.

When you think about Balenciaga muse and model Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon - I mean, you look at their mother Jane Birkin, and what they have grown up to be . . . They aren't invaded in fashion, and yet they love it.I mean, who is going to schlep these big skirts and trains and all these things? How wonderful it is to see the young in miniskirts!

I personally do not think that I have ever done, in my working life, anything vulgar. I know I've done provocative things.

I think that some people have wonderful spots. I think that Karl Lagerfeld has a wonderful spot designing for Chanel. They really just let him go. I think John Galliano is a huge talent. Marc Jacobs is also a huge talent - and a very interesting one to me.

I think that there are people who go to the best stores, and they have money, so money is no object, but they can't find a pretty dress - and I think that's their problem because the dresses are out there somewhere. So I think the answers to these questions lie somewhere in there.

I was fascinated looking at John Galliano's couture. They're just extraordinary extravaganzas and I love it. I love looking at it because it's like going to a museum.

I loved the masculine style of dressing of Katharine Hepburn, who came from the same town that I came from. I was fascinated by the way she wore trousers. So I think the romanticism of the movies also influenced my life and my interest in fashion greatly.