I don't really care about gossip. I care about building great businesses.

As a Business Ambassador, I am delighted to help both new and established British designers receive the recognition they deserve in the global fashion arena.

When someone asks about a career in fashion, I say start at the bottom. If you want to start a business, you have to know it from the ground up.

In the past there were two things that motivated me then: independence, and passion about what I was doing. And those are still the things that motivate me now. I still have that passion for creating a product. And I will never be dependent on a man. I will never be dependent on a husband or a boyfriend or a father. That's one thing that's really important to me.

What I hate is leather leggings and an ankle boot. I hate the line.

I had to put the company through a reorg, raise a new round of financing, and sort of press the restart button. But my feeling was that I wasn't going to be bullied. I wasn't going to let them take me down. I had to pull myself together and move forward.

I don't believe in doing collections anymore.