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 tweet myself and do all the Facebook updates. It started off with me wondering whether I was showing off and I was very careful about what I wrote.

A beautiful woman is a beautiful woman, but a beautiful woman with a brain is an absolutely lethal combination.

Girls who wear certain kind of dresses, who show certain areas of the body, are not going to like my clothes. You can't please everyone.

I have a 6-year-old niece who doesn't look like the majority of girls on the covers of magazines. I hope that by the time she's 16, the world will have changed.

I want to make clothes that make women feel beautiful.

I would tell any aspiring designer to take the time to experience everything they can to really get a feel for what direction they want to go in. And most importantly, let your passion and your gut lead you.