My mother was a housewife. My father worked in the agriculture business, but they were very encouraging about everything. When I said I wanted to do art, they were very supportive.
I liked natural history. I liked the outdoors. And I found the sea quite interesting.
We design for a whole range of ages and body types, and we always have done. What's great about us is that the common thing that they all like is an accessible eccentricity of an accessible flamboyance, and I think the super thing about that, it isn't age-specific: you're not only dressing 25-year-olds; we're dressing women from 25 to 65+.
That era of designers being away with the fairies is gone... You've got to live in the real world.
I liked the fact DAKS was an unknown quantity. It's more like Gucci before Tom Ford got there. There's a lot you can do.
With couture, it means I get to show fall in July with delivery in September. My clients will be getting their pieces in season.
With couture, the great thing is that each piece has its own character, and you have space to explore and continue themes season after season.
Just because something is less expensive shouldn't mean it is less well designed.
My parents weren't into fashion. I didn't have an eccentric granny who mixed lace mantillas with tweed.
I like characters in life, generally; I don't like to see a collection modelled on a homogeneous look. That terrifies me.
I don't believe in a recipe for success. You have to work hard; you may not always get it right - you have to bounce back from situations, and you have to be really focused and determined. It's important to have fun as well. Work shouldn't be a torture.
I have an art-school background, not a fashion background where it's like, 'Oh, we're going on holiday to Miami.'
If you've invested money in buying a piece, you don't want it to just disintegrate. We all have that first wash anxiety, when that great t-shirt you've just bought shrinks away to nothing.
There are some great skinny girls, but it's about characters, isn't it? That's what I find attractive. People who've had interesting lives and tell you something that you don't know or are really good fun.
We want to be the go-to business for super-special daywear and eveningwear, to focus on what we are known for and what our customers want from us.
Pretty much hated school. I never really found my footing. I just didn't like lessons.
I'd really love to dress Lauren Bacall. She's incredibly interesting - a gorgeous, stylish woman with a strong personality.
I am more interested in people's attitude than someone who is a perfect face. Every time I walk the streets of London, I see someone who interests me. It doesn't matter how old they are.
I love historical references.
People don't necessarily realise that there can be just as much work on a quiet jacket as an overblown gown.
