You have to be passionate, you have to be engaged and you have to be contributing to the world.

If I'm sending emails, and I get all wound up and stressed and don't know what to do with myself for 20 minutes, I just go soak in hot water and lie there, thinking, 'What should I do?' So it's meditative.

We have the Terminator as governor, and we had an actor as president, so why shouldn't we have a fashion designer as a senator?

I love New York. It's given me so much as a designer. When I moved here, I wanted to tap into the glamour of the city immediately. More than anywhere else, New York offers itself up - you arrive and get a rush in a flash. It's dazzling. Everywhere you look, there is decoration, from a pair of jewel-encrusted shoes in the window in Bergdorf Goodman to the Chrysler Building. And New York is incredibly democratic. Everyone is packed into this tiny space. You are confronted with all manner of people, and I love that.

Dressing effectively is a kind of excellent manners.

Fashion creates a bit of a dream

This sounds crazy, but I know so many famous people, I'm just not intimidated by anyone. I feel really comfortable with it.