I love things that age well

Never in my wildest dreams did I entertain the idea that I would become a fashion designer. A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous. I was the first person to have a punk rock hairstyle. War taught me that not everything is glamorous. You're only as good as your last collection, which is an enormous pressure.

Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different. Fashions fade, style is eternal. Grunge is a hippied romantic version of punk. Men have got more of a discerning eye. They appreciate cut and details, things that aren't so obvious. They like things that have cachet and gentlemanliness.

I love things that age well - things that don't date, that stand the test of time and that become living examples of the absolute best. My job is to bring out in people what they wouldn't dare do themselves. The difference between style and fashion is quality. I would like to be a one-man multinational fashion phenomenon. I didn't consider myself a fashion designer at all at the time of punk. I was just using fashion as a way to express my resistance and to be rebellious. I came from the country, and by the time I got to London, I considered myself to be very stupid. It was my ambition to understand the world I live in.