CAROLINA HERRERA

When you live and work in different time zones, you spend a lot of time on airplanes.

I don't like trends. They tend to make everybody look the same.

I very seldom compromise. I am a Capricorn.

I've had work done on my eyes in the past. However, I think there are limits. I wouldn't ever have too much done, as it looks unnatural, and I don't think you should do anything to your lips, as it changes the entire shape of your face.

Perfection does not exist - only God is perfect.

I love books; my suitcases are always full of them. Books and shoes. I read when I am sad, when I am happy, when I am nervous. My favourite British author is Jane Austen, and my favourite American one is John O'Hara.

I don't get my inspiration from books or a painting. I get it from the women I meet.

I love white shirts because they feel like a security blanket. You can wear them with anything. It's the person and the way that they wear it that makes it different. I have been designing white shirts forever, but I don't get tired of it.

The first painting that I realised I liked was 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' by Hieronymus Bosch, when I was six years old, at the Prado in Madrid. I still find myself returning there every time I'm in the city.

You feel very romantic when you're in a ball gown. Everyone should wear one once in a while.

I am very shy. When I go to a charity ball, I don't mind if people look at my sleeves. I mind terribly if I have to say something.

There isn't a book that has changed me, but I have favourites such as 'Pride and Prejudice' which I often re-read.

Feeling good about yourself and your life is very important. I'm a happy woman, happy with my husband, my daughters, my grandchildren. We all get along quite well, and that keeps me centered.

The red carpet is very important. You have to be very careful to have the right person dressed in right way. For me, it has to be a perfect look.

Fashion has always been a repetition of ideas, but what makes it new is the way you put it together.

People get nervous accessorising, but there is nothing wrong with adding a belt or a pair of shoes in another colour.

Life is hard. It is not too short, it is too long. But you have to learn how to live; you have to have a sense of humour.

Work doesn't seem to interfere with my life. I have time for everything, even time to be alone.

You never expect anything when you are 20 because you think that you'll never get older.

Fashion is to please your eye. Shapes and proportions are for your intellect.

When I was living in Los Angeles, I always booked a moisturizing milk-and-honey massage the day before flying to Spain. It was heaven - I never got dry plane skin or felt stiff from sitting in one position.

I was schooled at home, then didn't go to university because I married when I was 17. I didn't go into work until late in my life.

A wedding dress is both an intimate and personal for a woman - it must reflect the personality and style of the bride.

Money doesn't buy elegance. You can take an inexpensive sheath, add a pretty scarf, gray shoes, and a wonderful bag, and it will always be elegant.

Fashion is a dream. It's difficult, and there are many aspects of fashion that are very difficult, but if you love it like I do, because I really have a passion, now, for fashion, it's not easy, but nothing is easy in life.