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.

As I started to buy cars, I didn't know that I was building a collection. I just wanted the cars I was dreaming about. Once you drive a good one, it is like having a fever.

I didn't have a vision as in, This is where I'm going. I had a vision as in, "This is what I love to do."

I think the people who work with me are people who love style themselves. I'm leaving the office and they're still working. They're passionate.

My dreams are my work. I design out of the things that I love.

I have always done what I love myself. My philosophy was that I never had focus groups. I did what I wear.

People ask how can a Jewish kid from the Bronx do preppy clothes? Does it have to do with class and money? It has to do with dreams.