Anything I do, I do with my heart. This is why I sometimes get very upset or sometimes get very personal when I'm working.

I've always been obsessed with things that are half animal and half human - like mermaids and Minotaurs - because they are trapped in an animal body. And I felt trapped in my own life.

I was lucky. From the time I was a little, I was always surrounded by women, and I am very attracted to the feminine world, because I love the strength and romanticism, which in the end, you can find in my style.

In prêt-à-porter now we understandably need to make the collection satisfy the big market more, so couture is extra special.

I believe that couture is not about shocking.

When I started, everyone said couture was finished and I was so scared. Actually I was more terrorized than scared. I was arriving from a provincial area of Italy. They called me in to do Givenchy and I just thought, Wow.

In the beginning I didn't want to do a menswear collection. It felt a little forced. And then I found that it was an amazing world.