My breakfast is very important. Awkwardness gives me great comfort. I’ve never been cool, but I’ve felt cool. I’ve been in the cool place, but I wasn’t really cool – I was trying to pass for hip or cool. It’s the awkwardness that’s nice. Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future. Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity. I believe in comfort. If you don’t feel comfortable in your clothes, it’s hard to think of anything else.

Fashion is a very stressful place to work because of the demands of doing the shows – no one expects a writer to produce two books a year on the dot – but it’s also a very toxic place to work. The key to my collections is sensuality. I don’t try to be in fashion; I don’t try to follow trends. You just end up out of fashion that way. Fashion is made to become unfashionable. If you wear clothes that don’t suit you, you’re a fashion victim. You have to wear clothes that make you look better.

Online media is increasingly influential in fashion. Confidence. If you have it, you can make anything look good. It is important to be chic. Online media is increasingly influential in fashion. Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future.