I went to Paris to learn and absorb some of the amazing ambience I was enamored with growing up in Kansas City. I didn't go there to start my own collection. But I never could get an internship, so finally, I was left with just doing my own show.

I really don't see little girls growing up and thinking, 'Oh, I'm going to morph myself so I look like Barbie.'

I have a nostalgia for the years I was growing up and experiencing new things for the first time - so the late '80s and early '90s are always fascinating to me. Those were the times that I was being informed about a lot of my tastes, and so the memories are fused with a lot of emotion.

Designers have a reputation for setting the tone for what people - and especially women - are supposed to wear. How long their skirts should be, things like that. I have a different philosophy: put something out there with humour; let people see that and come around to it on their own.

The ancient Greek view of happiness was really defined by leading a productive life: It's not about how much you have, it's about what you do with it.

My family didn't have a lot of money, and I'm grateful for that. Money is the longest route to happiness.

He who seeks truth shall find beauty. He who seeks beauty shall find vanity. He who seeks order shall find gratification. He who seeks gratification shall be disappointed. He who considers himself the servant of his fellow beings shall find the joy of self-expression. He who seeks self-expression shall fall into the pit of arrogance.

You gotta have a good beat to survive in modern country in general. Everyone wants to feel good, laugh, dance, and cry. But at the same time, they all want it to sound happy.