Georgina Chapman

I enjoyed studying costume, learning about the corsetry and the historical context of fashion. I never had any real intention of being a costume designer.

One of my most sentimental items is my grandmother's engagement ring that my mom gave me a few years ago. It's a Victorian-style setting that's closed in the back, so it doesn't sparkle the way diamonds do now. I wear it as a pendant.

I think it's very empowering to be able to have a career and to be a mother. It gives you an amazing sense of self.

New York is very career-orientated and it's hard to take time off here, but that is great for building a business.

I didn't finish my dress until about three days before my wedding - I had the flu and was stitching it from my bed. And the tulle came back from India all brown. We had to wash it for hours, but that didn't dissuade me from wearing it.

I always have a camera now that I've got a kid, but I don't think I've got one picture of anyone other than my daughter.

Belize suits me because I'm active and I like diving. I learnt when I was 18, in Thailand, and I have dived in Vietnam, which wasn't great, the Red Sea, which was incredible and reasonably priced, and then the Maldives, which is like being submerged in an aquarium.

Photography obviously lends itself so well towards fashion. It's capturing that moment and that inspiration, and as a designer you are constantly walking through the world assimilating those visual references you have and so being able to solidify that into a photograph and keep it on your mood board is essential to creating a collection.

I'm an enormous fan of Ron Howard. I mean, he's the most extraordinary director.

It's good to talk to people and get ideas.

We don't leave home without my daughter's doll La-La. She looks like a bit of a rag, but India is obsessed with her.

I love children. I've always loved children.