My goal is: I'm not trying to be snobby, but my clothes are not for everyone, not for every Hollywood celebrity. There is a designer for everyone, and a celebrity for every designer.

I love draping; it's less about proportion than fit and the fabric. It's very specialized and I think when women see the construction, they respond to it immediately.

I'm not a believer of luck. I think opportunity and hard work becomes luck.

I make 98% of my collection in New York City and am generating jobs, so fashion isn't just frivolous for me. I understand levity about it. I also understand the depth of it.

I came from Bill Blass, where it was a well-oiled machine and if I said I needed a fabric, it was done. Now, I have to budget everything. I have to take on the role not just as a designer but a business. But Im a glass half-full kind of guy.

I think I'm just really in love with women, and I love to see them looking incredibly, truly beautiful. I think every time a woman wears one of my dresses, you know, in a matter of speaking, I'm having a little love affair with her!

I decided if it was going to be a mistake to come to New York and try and make a career in fashion, then it was going to be my mistake... But the American dream is real. I'm living it.