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I brought a lot of my own pieces of clothes to the design room when I first met with the design team just so they could see what my style was like.

My aunt was Frances Hodges, who in the Fifties was the editor of 'Seventeen' and later one of the creators of 'Mademoiselle.' She was my Auntie Mame; she loved culture. She was a Quaker, but she became a milliner against all Quaker logic - they feel that fashion and art are vanities - because she loved fashion.

My mom modeled and made clothes, so I always had such an appreciation for design.

Louise Frogley is a brilliant designer. I always find her wardrobe fittings really informative and creative. Together, you kick images and ideas around.

I saw a lot of haute couture all my childhood, and without knowing it I've learned from when I was a child to recognise beautiful fabrics.

Every designer needs a story. Mine is all about glamour because my family has been in the business of glamour for three generations. My grandfather Shamshuddin Khan started his embroidery and fabric-making business in the 1930s.

In my research, I learned that the way these twenties pieces are constructed, in one garment, can be very simple, and in others they can be very complicated. That's what made an elusive fit that we can't always get these days. Knowing this, I would like to share some of these secrets and use them in a collection.

My elder sister used to get the fashion magazines, and I would go through them and find things I liked and buy fabric and copy them. But I hated what I looked like. I mean, I was sooo skinny.

I love lots of designers. I will always love Vivienne Westwood; she is a legendary designer.

I don't have a traditional design background, but it's inherent to me. My father was in the fabric industry, and even my grandfather and my great-grandfather were lace manufacturers.