There's design, and there's art. Good design is total harmony. There's no better designer than nature - if you look at a branch or a leaf, it's perfect. It's all function. Art is different. It's about emotion. It's about suffering and beauty - but mostly suffering!

I had arranged a birthday party for him and my children, who are all Aquarians. Instead, we got married. I ran out of excuses. It was just us and my children.

Beauty is perfect in its imperfections, so you just have to go with the imperfections.

Attitude is everything.

I'm not tired of who I am. That would be sad!

I don't like to talk about my dreams. I like to make them happen. I prefer to talk about them when they're done.

All women are the same, really: They are strong, but they are afraid of their own strength.

I never modeled myself after anyone. The person who had most influence on me was my mother, but it was really for her strength and courage more than her style, even though she had a lot of style. In a weird way, looking at pictures of me when I was 17 or 18, I was dressing the same way. I haven't changed very much.

All I can tell you is that I've never met a woman who is not strong, but sometimes they don't let it out. Then there's a tragedy, and then all of a sudden that strength comes. My message is let the strength come out before the tragedy.

I wanted to be an independent woman, a woman who could pay for her bills, a woman who could run her own life - and I became that woman.

Insecurity is a waste of time.

I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are.

I was lucky enough to have it all. To be successful in business, to have children, to raise them on my own, and to travel and live my life. It was a lot of work, but it's a privilege to have been able to do it.

I travel in so many different ways; I travel high, I rough it... it all depends on who I travel with.

Usually, the fairy tale ends with the girl marrying the prince. But mine started as soon as the marriage was over.

Marriage was never a destination with me.

Animals come from nature. They were not designed. All my inspiration comes from nature, whether it's an animal or the layout of bark or of a leaf. Sometimes my patterns are very bold, and you can barely see where they come from, but all the textures and all the prints come out of nature.

The most important relationship you have in life is the one you have with yourself. And then after that, I'd say once you have that, it may be hard work, but you can actually design your life.

Clarity is the most important thing. I can compare clarity to pruning in gardening. You know, you need to be clear. If you are not clear, nothing is going to happen. You have to be clear. Then you have to be confident about your vision. And after that, you just have to put a lot of work in.

I never like to think that I design for a particular person. I design for the woman I wanted to be, the woman I used to be, and - to some degree - the woman I'm still a little piece of.

A challenging economy is always good for design. It unites necessity and functionality. You are forced to be creative with poor materials.

The way I design generally is very much travel-oriented because that is my life. That's why I make clothes that are so light and so easy to pack and a little bit seasonless.

My favorite days are the ones where I deal only with my own team, design, marketing, working on the next accessories collection.

I design for the woman who loves being a woman.

Italy will always have the best food.