Elegance isn’t solely defined by what you wear. It’s how you carry yourself, how you speak, what you read. I think there is something about luxury – it’s not something people need, but it’s what they want. It really pulls at their heart. Fashion should be fun. It shouldn’t be labelled intellectual. Elegance isn’t solely defined by what you wear. It’s how you carry yourself, how you speak, what you read. Design is a series of creative choices – it’s a collaborative effort, an evolutionary process. You choose your fabrics depending upon what you want to say, then you work with mills to get those fabrics. Through the process, you realize what you want it to be.
It’s useless to send models out on the runway to cry. I didn’t consider myself a fashion designer at all at the time of punk. I was just using fashion as a way to express my resistance and to be rebellious. I came from the country, and by the time I got to London, I considered myself to be very stupid. It was my ambition to understand the world I live in. Brides today are increasingly sensitive to the tastes, feelings and finances of their attendants. In a meat-eating world, wearing leather for shoes and clothes and even handbags, the discussion of fur is childish. You have to always work against what you did before, and even against your taste.
Brides today are increasingly sensitive to the tastes, feelings and finances of their attendants. Insecurity is a waste of time. I can’t get sucked into that celebrity thing, because I think it’s just crass. I feel that things happen for a reason and open up new opportunities. I always thought what you wore underneath was as important as what you wear on top.
Fashion is made to become unfashionable. Beauty is perfect in its imperfections, so you just have to go with the imperfections. I love a black wedding dress. You can only go forward by making mistakes. Fashion fosters cliches of beauty, but I want to tear them apart.
First I made a dress because I was pregnant and I wanted to be the most beautiful pregnant woman. Then I made a sweater because I wanted to have one that wasn’t like anyone else’s. When I was young, I lived like an old woman, and when I got old, I had to live like a young person. I can design a collection in a day and I always do, cause I’ve always got a load of Italians on my back, moaning that it’s late. For me, art is about learning and about living with people. It’s alive. We look our best in subdued colors, sophisticated cuts, and a general air of sleek understatement.
I am not interested in shock tactics. I just want to make beautiful clothes. My learning process is by eye alone; it’s not at all scientific. What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today when human contacts go so fast. Fashion is instant language. I think the idea of mixing luxury and mass-market fashion is very modern, very now – no one wears head-to-toe designer anymore. I do not have one theme for each season, I just try to make beautiful clothes all year round.
I am especially grateful that I have been able to keep my own style over the decades, in spite of the many changes that have taken place in the world of fashion and in its business. I would like the people that buy my clothes to understand that for me it’s one small piece of art. The difference between style and fashion is quality. There are only three things I can do – make a dress, decorate a house, and entertain people. Confidence. If you have it, you can make anything look good.
A woman is never sexier than when she is comfortable in her clothes. Never in my wildest dreams did I entertain the idea that I would become a fashion designer. I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style. The key to my collections is sensuality. Confidence. If you have it, you can make anything look good.
