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I can think of a lot of women clients of mine who are well into their 50s or 60s who are still quintessentially very elegant.

The Seventies seemed like this really open time. There were a lot of strong women characters deciding what kind of artists they wanted to be.

There are some strong female performers out there. But the industry's pre-occupation with the packaging of how a woman looks has gone completely the other way, back to almost the 60s, early 70s.

There is a phenomenal amount of pressure on women in this industry: they are considered vintage by the time they hit their mid-30s.

I was really inspired by these larger-than-life female artists like Lee Bontecou and Eva Hesse and Yvonne Rainier and the incredible Lynda Benglis. There were many women who were really driven and became successful, who were part of essential paradigm shifts, despite the fact that the art world was still dominated by men.

All of the First Ladies were good, creative and strong. I've always said they should be paid.

I look at the people's careers who I want to emulate, like Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Bernadette Peters... They've all found the key to longevity in this business, and that is diversifying, doing as many things as possible to keep yourself relevant, and so hopefully I'm on the same track as all those amazing women.

I think I always dreamt of having a brand that really was represented globally, that had a voice - that had a clear voice and a clear vision that made women feel great about themselves. That really spoke to women on a personal level. And that women could wear.

It took the United States until 1920 to give women the franchise and another 40 or 50 years to start utilizing women's potential. How many women of incredible potential did we fail and what achievements were lost to all because we never tapped that potential?

We showed the industry that female artists could attract the same audiences as the big male stars.