Algebra looked like Chinese characters to me, and I could never get into reading Shakespeare. I just did not get it.
The preppy lifestyle has gone global. We feel that our business has grown so well because preppy travels so well. It's all-American classic.
I had eight brothers and sisters. Every Christmas my younger brother Bobby would wake up extra early and open everybody's presents - everybody's - so by the time the rest of us got up, all the gifts were shredded, ribbons off, torn open and thrown aside.
I was looking at people like Jim Morrison and David Bowie and Mick Jagger and I thought, Ah! I want to look like them.
I think it is really important to have a sense of business. As a designer you can get so wrapped up in the design and fashion side that you forget the business side.
I looked at my competitors and I thought that, If they could do it, I could do it. And if, they are popular and doing well, I could compete with them.
I think it's dangerous to think that you're successful, because then you become complacent.
I've never tried to do couture, because it's a whole different beast.
We are going back to our roots by cultivating new unsigned talent who otherwise might go unnoticed.
I currently live in the Plaza in New York and I love it - all that history, all those interesting stories.
I disapprove of lots of decisions made by George Bush: the war, the meddling in the affairs of other countries, the conversations with dictators; it was a dark time.
Our look and image never change dramatically from one season to the next, so we need an edge.
You want to look fashionable and put-together, not like you hit every sale rack this season.
I had no confidence at school. I was not a good student and I really thought I was pretty stupid. Just dumb.
We had incense and rock'n'roll posters, and we sold records and rolling papers. People could just, like, hang out. We had a cool vibe going.
My mother was kind and forgiving and would take in all the waifs and strays in our neighbourhood; we always compared her to Mother Teresa. She taught me a lot.
The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it's possible to achieve the American dream.
I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to build some kind of lifestyle brand that was preppy and cool.
We are really living the American dream, to be a successful brand in the States and in Europe and to steep ourselves in our heritage. But we do it with a sense of humor. We don't take ourselves too seriously in fashion.
