I think of my life as divided between a lot of different periods. I grew up in the country, but as I got older I became more of an urban person. That's really when I started to become more of a creative person who was interested in fine arts, painting, drawing, and music. I studied jazz for a long time. Looking back, all those things were great training.

Fashion for me is the perfect combination of all the things I love. There's an element of history to it. I love understanding why people wear what they wear, why during certain periods in history women looked the way they looked. There was always a strong reason behind it, whether it was because of what was available to them or because of what was happening in the world politically or sociologically. Fashion is like an amazing blend of commerce, travel, and creativity - of studying what people were about during a particular time.

I think fashion is the only thing I'm fully suited to do because I am super impatient, which I think is a good thing for fashion. I could never work on something for two years. I would do 20 things and finish none of them. I always admire people who have that ability to sustain something for that long a period.

Museums that aren't perfect are the ones that I love. Museums that aren't overdesigned. I always like to visit the strange, odd museums. In New York, the Frick is absolutely my favorite, favorite place because I like to think that it was someone's home not that long ago.

When a silhouette or shape is as beautiful as it is functional and relevant, that's true luxury.

Having your own store is one of the most immediate ways to connect with the customer, to really get to know her and develop a more intimate relationship.

The collection under my name is an exciting opportunity to really express my own aesthetic and connect with a very different consumer.