I think the idea of mixing luxury and mass-market fashion is very modern, very now – no one wears head-to-toe designer anymore. Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it. War taught me that not everything is glamorous. I have my permanent muses and my muses of the moment. There are only three things I can do – make a dress, decorate a house, and entertain people.

Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity. Attitude is everything. It’s hard to balance everything. It’s always challenging. Fashion can be this mysterious thing that you can’t explain. For me, art is about learning and about living with people. It’s alive.

Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them. I’m used to always deciding everything myself. It’s a blessing, but also a terrible defect. A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous. For me, the summer will be pure gray – mother-of-pearl gray, very pale gray. To me, this is the big statement for summer. Then we have light blue, light turquoise, lots of pink. People said making clothes inside out was not proper. I disagreed, because clothes that are inside out are as beautiful as a cathedral.

You have to stay true to your heritage; that’s what your brand is about. My breakfast is very important. Design and style should work toward making you look good and feel good without a lot of effort so you can get on with the things that matter. I am convinced that there can be luxury in simplicity. Fashion is always of the time in which you live. It is not something standing alone. But the grand problem, the most important problem, is to rejeuvenate women. To make women look young. Then their outlook changes. They feel more joyous.