My parents sent me from Venezuela to the Convent of Our Lady, a boarding school in Hastings, which was horrible - like Harry Potter without the magic. Sometimes we went into town, and if we were caught chewing gum in our uniform, members of the public would take down our names and report us to the school.

Investors are impatient and they are also desperate for the 'next big thing,' and they are not paying attention to the fact that the 'next big thing' can be an economic crisis that they have created by being very irresponsible with their power.

So I'm half deaf - and dyslexic. How about that? Nobody's perfect, and I'm proud of my defects.

I look for individuality in the artisans I work with for CoutureLab; a loving relationship with the product and care in the construction, along with the story behind it, make couture desirable to consumers looking for something that cannot be mass-produced.

A fool and his money get a lot of publicity.

Put not your trust in money, but put your money in trust.

I don't think that money makes you any better brought up than I was.

Now people look at 'The Scream' or Van Gogh's 'Irises' or a Picasso and see its new content: money. Auction houses inherently equate capital with value.