I am not looking like Armani today and somebody else tomorrow. I look like Ralph Lauren. And my goal is to constantly move in fashion and move in style without giving up what I am.

My father was an artist. When life was harder and he couldn't get jobs, he painted houses, but he was artistic. When I went to see his work, it was special. Somewhere along the line, I felt I was special. I didn't know why.

Sometimes when I walk into one of my own stores, I look at the display and say, "This looks so good - I want to buy it." Yet other times I walk in and the displays and mannequins will be all wrong, and I don't want to buy anything. When a customer walks into a store, she's looking for inspiration. So I'm tuned in to people, and I care about what they need and who they are.

..It's not about age...I believe women of all ages can wear anything.

As a kid, I was always into clothes, but I didn't have the money to buy them. When I'd get my brothers' hand-me-downs, there was an energy in me that made me say, "I want to get my own things, to make my own statement." Somewhere along the line, that energy - coupled with my exposure, through movies, to a world I hadn't known - turned into something.

I'm designing what I want. If it's a man's coat with a pair of skinny-leg jeans, I'll do that. It's whatever my mood is. But it's about style, and it's about an understated taste that's cool.

What's interesting about fashion is it's a world, and I think that's what I've done - I've made a contribution and I think I've built a world. The world is beyond just clothes. Taste and style is beyond clothes. It's in food; it's in quality.