“I was struggling to find a way to make evening clothes more deconstructed. I like to think that I translated the Latin concept in a more modern way. I don’t think that I was that literal.”

Don’t be afraid to take time to learn. It’s good to work for other people. I worked for others for 20 years. They paid me to learn.

Design is about point of view, and there should be some sort of woman or lifestyle or attitude in one’s head as a designer.

I make things of my own that aren’t that glam, but I’m not known for that, which has always been a bit of a frustration for me.

My bedroom is my sanctuary. It’s like a refuge, and it’s where I do a fair amount of designing – at least conceptually, if not literally.

People get very trapped where they are. When they hear “fashion” they get intimidated, particularly at the upper end because it’s so elitist. If you can bring your own concept or your viewpoint and translate it not down but out, then you’re really successful in the truest sense.

Fashion offers no greater challenge than finding what works for night without looking like you are wearing a costume.

My closet is organized by tops, pants, and outerwear, but not a lot of dresses. Gowns are in another room because I don’t often dress formally, even though I design gowns. Like most designers, I have a uniform, and mine is a legging.

I was an art history major, but never specifically contemporary. I would say where I really stopped were the abstract expressionists in the New York school.

The intricate engraving, fine lines, beading and milgrain accents echo an era defined by elaborate embellishments.

Bridal is always about who you are as a person and as a woman and as a lover and as a mate. People always ask me how a woman can pick just one dress. And the funny thing is they always know.

I wanted to define the vocabulary of a wedding both visually and intellectually. The book is about more than weddings or wedding dresses. It’s a metaphor for women’s lives, their creativity.

Service is a prerequisite for anything relating to luxury. That makes it (shopping) sensual and pleasurable.

Fashion to me has become very disposable; I wanted to get back to craft, to clothes that could last.

I was the girl who nobody thought would ever get married. I was going to be a fashion nun the rest of my life. There are generations of them, those fashion nuns, living, eating, breathing clothes.

I’ve been designing since I was 8. I started sketching dresses I could wear when skating. I was always involved in all aspects of skating, not just the technique, the choreography, the music, but the visual aspects, too – what I should wear.

New York for me is about work. If L.A. were to become a West Coast version of that, I’d shoot myself. The climate, the lifestyle – it really fits as the yin to my New York yang.

A woman is never sexier than when she is comfortable in her clothes.

I haven’t been a gay activist. I haven’t protested for gay rights or none of that, but one thing I can say is that a lot of the designers I wear are gay and I like their clothes.

I haven’t been a gay activist. I haven’t protested for gay rights or none of that, but one thing I can say is that a lot of the designers I wear are gay and I like their clothes.

I haven’t been a gay activist. I haven’t protested for gay rights or none of that, but one thing I can say is that a lot of the designers I wear are gay and I like their clothes.

If you wear a short enough skirt, the party will come to you.

My closet is organized by tops, pants, and outerwear, but not a lot of dresses. Gowns are in another room because I don’t often dress formally, even though I design gowns. Like most designers, I have a uniform, and mine is a legging.

Bridal is always about who you are as a person and as a woman and as a lover and as a mate. People always ask me how a woman can pick just one dress. And the funny thing is they always know.

Years are only garments, and you either wear them with style all your life, or else you go dowdy to the grave.