I find that it is much easier now for women to be in any position because, as you see, they are presidents of banks, they are prime ministers, they are doctors. Everything is about women.
My family - my husband, my daughters, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, all of them - are the most important thing in the world to me.
You can wear them with anything. It's the person and the way that they wear it that makes it different. I have been designing white shirts forever, but I don't get tired of it.
For me, fashion begins in New York.
I think elegance is always going to be there.
Fashion is not easy. You have to change your eye to look for beauty all the time.
The '70s were full of creativity. Everybody was so unique. It was a very creative period, and I think to be a designer you have to know a little about art and literature and music because there is inspiration in all of these things. You're looking for beauty but also something that makes sense.
It is difficult to read the reviews when you start because you see something in your collection and the press sees something else. That is when you have to be very strong about your own style. They can say whatever they want, but I do what I do because I love it.
The word "elegance" is a bit different now.
Sometimes I'm a psychiatrist and I tell people in my office that my door is open, and if they have a problem to come and talk to me. Sometimes I say, "I have to close the door because I don't want to hear it!"
When you work in fashion, you need to work as a team. You cannot do anything on your own.
Queen Elizabeth of England is the real fashion icon of the century. And she has a sense of humor.
I walk in the park every day, and when people come and ask for a photograph, I say, "Oh, my God!" It means they recognize that I have been doing something right and they want to have a photograph taken with me.
There have been a lot of changes [in the fashion industry], of course. You just have to accept it and be strong.
If you think that you did everything and know everything and that everything has been done perfectly well, then it's time to retire.
You have to have a full-length mirror in your house so you can see what is missing and what you have to add to your look.
I don't want the collections to look like a potpourri. It has to have a cohesive idea, and it has to be glamorous and beautiful and fit well.
I cannot go and tell women what to wear and what not to wear; you have to decide on your own.
I approach fashion as an evolution. It's always changing. As you know, sometimes it changes in three months.
Politics are private. I don't understand people who try to convince you to join one party or another.
I've been dressing Renee on the red carpet for the past three years, ... I think she always looks great. She has the right proportion for my clothes. She has that tiny waist and she loves fashion.
Work doesn't seem to interfere with my life. I have time for everything, even time to be alone.
British and American women have very different styles and a different way of living.
I was brought up with considerable discipline, and I was taught it wasn't proper to display certain very private emotions in public.
Have I ever been horrified to see someone in my clothes? Many times, but I close my eyes and look the other way. That happens to everyone. What can you do? Go and tell her, 'Don't wear that dress again'? We designers always have fantasies in our heads, but the difficult task is to make them reality. Because you can be the best designer, but designing in your own place and with nobody wearing [your clothes], then what happens? You're nowhere.
