“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 started at the very highest level so the upper end is something I know very well. I know it instinctively. But all the years I was designing, it frustrated me that I could reach so few women.

I like the gritty parts of fashion, the design, the studio, the pictures.

People get very trapped where they are. When they hear ‘fashion’ they get intimidated, particularly at the upper end because it’s so elitist.

There was no relationship between a wedding dress and fashion. There was no good taste, either. I realized that I could make an impression in terms of changing and readdressing the whole industry of bridal.

Is she going to, or has she done it? Has it happened? What is the story here?

I was trying to manage school and training for the Olympics and ended up not doing well at either. That was a big lesson in my life. My mother expected both.

It’s a remarkable exercise to sit and look at your own work over the years.

As the mother of two daughters, I have great respect for women. And I don’t ever want to lose that.

Let’s be realistic, how many people are buying a $2,000 skirt? I love to design things that people can actually buy. I’m staggered by what a boot costs today.

A bride should look at everything she possibly can…just so she can experiment and see what makes her really feel beautiful or glamorous or classical or whatever she desires to be on that particular day.

To me, eyewear goes way beyond being a prescription. It’s like makeup. It’s the most incredible accessory. The shape of a frame or the color of lenses can change your whole appearance.

When I decided to get married at 40, I couldn’t find a dress with the modernity or sophistication I wanted. That’s when I saw the opportunity for a wedding gown business.

I don’t live through my kids. But I do know what will happen in life, and I just want them well prepared.

When brides ask me, “What’s the best advice you can give me on my wedding day?” I always have the same answer: “Be yourself.” Someone’s marrying you, they love you for who you are, and they don’t want you to be someone else.

I’m not really a girl who likes to go out to lunch or cocktails or store openings.

My mother was extremely controlled, sort of flawless. And I always tend to be a bit more hippie.

It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank, that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures success.

It’s nice to get off the couch, throw the clothes on, add a little make-up and go back to work, every once in a while.

Goals are visions and dreams with work clothes on.

I don’t have a problem with my body. I’m not just going to strip off all my clothing, but if the part calls for it and I don’t think there’s any way round, I’m absolutely fine.

You know, when a man is raped you never hear about what he was wearing.

God is our clothing, that wraps, clasps and encloses us so as to never leave us.

I wear my sort of clothes to save me the trouble of deciding which clothes to wear.

Nothing earth-shattering has happened in men’s fashion. How much can you do with men’s clothes?