“When I was a little kid, all I wanted to do was to escape what I thought was the country and get to a city. Probably film and television had influenced me so much, I really thought the key to happiness was living a very artificial life in a penthouse in New York with martini glasses.”

I suppose, yes, I’ve been guilty of provocation but it’s also just common sense marketing – put a bottle of scent in a woman’s cleavage, or between her thighs – and men will notice.

Time and silence are the most luxurious things today.

The world might be a very scary place if it were only run by Virgos.

At home, off-duty, I wear T-shirts from Fruit of the Loom – but I have them tailored.

Yes, I still take my baths all day long. They’re meditative. I have three a day.

In my adult life I’ve understood that if I put an enormous amount of love and honesty into something, usually that shows in the end.

In another life I would love to be a cosmetic surgeon because it’s architectural. You know, you are trying to figure out where the seams go. Can I do it in one piece like Halston? Can you formaldehyde DNA?

I find I can get so much done between midnight and 4 a.m. Everything is quiet, no one is disturbing me, and if I go to bed then, I just lie awake thinking of ideas. They are very creative hours for me. One night a week I crash out, though.

I’m living the exact life I planned on living when I was five.

A man should never wear shorts in the city. Flip-flops and shorts in the city are never appropriate. Shorts should only be worn on the tennis court or on the beach.

Everyday is one less day.

Style is very different from fashion. Once you find something that works, keep it.

I want to make beautiful clothes for women and men who appreciate detail and quality. The product must be the best but this is almost secondary to the service the customer will receive.

I am not a person who is about reality. I am about enhanced reality.

I think people are sick of trends changing every six months – not because we’re tired of them, but just for the sake of change. There is so much junk in the world: junk TV, junk movies, all those junk magazines with the same people on the cover.

From the time we’re born until we die, we’re kept busy with artificial stuff that isn’t important.

My mum was too busy raising four of us to encourage my hopes. But I’m glad I had the upbringing I did. It made me a worrier and a thoughtful, curious person.

This is one thing they forget to mention in most child-rearing books, that at times you will just lose your mind. Period.

We learn our belief systems as very little children, and then we move through life creating experiences to match our beliefs. Look back in your own life and notice how often you have gone through the same experience.

Nothing heals us like letting people know our scariest parts: When people listen to you cry and lament, and look at you with love, it’s like they are holding the baby of you.

To terrify children with the image of hell, to consider women an inferior creation – is that good for the world?

My parents elected me president of the family when I was 4. We actually had an election every year and I always won. I’m an only child, and I could count on my mother’s vote.

Only the guilty are guilty: the children of killers are not killers, but children.

Greatness occurs when your children love you, when your critics respect you and when you have peace of mind.