I couldn't have asked for a better testimonial than Bob Dylan parting with his own cash for a pair of my shoes.
I like to be playful; I want people to look at what I do and smile.
Shoe design is like architecture - with the finest structure and tight, precise seams, it suits my obsessive neatness.
I'm not a shoe snob.
Copying is a form of self-validation.
Show some originality and never wear one designer head to toe.
I'm addicted to chinos the second weather gets warm enough.
I finished college by July 15th, 1985, and by October 1985, I had a little stand during the trade show which was London Fashion week at the time. My stand was tiny - just 6 square meters in total - and I had my 12 shoes that I designed while in college.
In fashion, my inspiration comes from pop culture - the 1960s and the following years. Whereas in interior design, my influences are much broader.
I am a magpie. My eye collects details.
My inspiration for interior design is more historical than traditional.
I have a pop sensibility, which I think comes from all those weekends spent in nightclubs.
I was wondering if the best was behind me, had the high point of my career already happened. Then I saw what Manolo had done, and some of his best work happened after he turned 40.
I love Italy, and that's where I make my own shoes. But the French really do respect designers. Italy is totally different; footwear is an industry. The shoes are all about craft and luxury. French shoes are more about straight lines, and they are way more geometric.
Do I miss shoes? I miss the designing, but I don't miss the fashion industry. Those people eat their children.
Now, I'm older. I don't follow the vagaries of fashion: my look tends to be skinny flat-front trousers with a long-sleeve American Apparel T-shirt and a V-neck cashmere jumper - preferably Loro Piana.
I've stayed in enough hotels so I really know what works and what doesn't design-wise.
Rock stars love Cuban heels because a lot of them tend to be diminutive. And I've never met a man who doesn't mind having an extra inch or two anywhere on his body.
After selling the business, and the Patrick Cox brand in 2007, I had a three-year non-compete, where I just spent a lot of time hanging all over the world on beaches and having fun.
As a designer, you are not only a designer, you are also a celebrity, an entertainer, and a spokesperson that speaks on behalf of the company. So you need to realize that you have to embrace all those sides.
