There weren't paparazzi standing outside. There weren't all these photographers. People really didn't know what fashion was and what was happening in the tents.

I went to Bergdorf Goodman as an assistant in the fashion office and that was really my first exposure into the world of retail. Dawn Mello was president at the time and she had just left Gucci where she found Tom Ford.

At the time it really was the social women, the society ladies. There were the cool girls, like Aerin Lauder - everyone loved to see what Aerin was wearing. Carolyn Bessette was very much in that time period. Calvin [Kleine] was very influential in the '90s.

I had a very different vibe then, I was very into minimalism. I was kind of obsessed with Helmut Lang and [Martin] Margiela.

I feel like fashion was much more exclusive. There weren't as many parties. There weren't as many social gatherings. It wasn't required that designers have events to lure customers or editors or any of that - it was about a show. If there was a dinner or a party, people would go out after. New York nightlife was about late nights and dancing.

Calvin Klein and Donna Karan were the big American names at that point in time, Helmut [Lung] was the cool kid on the block and you had Marc Jacobs and John Galliano who starting the revival of the old fashion houses.

There weren't paparazzi standing outside. There weren't all these photographers. People really didn't know what fashion was and what was happening in the tents.