The clothes that I design and everything I've done is about life and how people live and how they want to live and how they dream they'll live. That's what I do.

We all have to fight to maintain our unique style and taste in a world that would have us conform.

I never said to myself, "I'm going to be the greatest." I just wanted to do my own thing.

I have always been inspired by the dream of America-families in the country, weathered trucks and farmhouses; sailing off the coast of Maine; following dirt roads in an old wood-paneled station wagon; a convertible filled with young college kids sporting crew cuts and sweatshirts and frayed sneakers.

I am constantly drawing inspiration from everything I see-the places I travel, the people I know and the movies I see.

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.

And I'm excited when I find somebody stimulating to talk with. That's one of the great treasures in life.