I try to find people who love and believe in what I do - and people I can respect because they do what I don't do. I've had to bring in financial people and put them in positions where they could tell me, "Ralph, let's not do that."

I was very influenced by movies; I was very influenced by a world that had a sense of dream.

When you're a kid, you think you can jump out the window and be okay. But when you get older, you think, "Wait a minute - I can't fly!"

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.

Books open windows to the world and have the power to transform lives.

I try to find people who love and believe in what I do - and people I can respect because they do what I don't do. I've had to bring in financial people and put them in positions where they could tell me, "Ralph, let's not do that."

I have always been drawn to the beauty of things designed to function. Mixing technical pieces with more traditional prints and patterns creates not only a quality experience, but a look that is unique, and for me, very exciting.