I have been so lucky to have the support of 'InStyle' magazine. My first big women's fashion story was for them.

My whole philosophy is about playing dress-up.

I'm a stylist, so I've been conditioned to setting up my own clothes like a fitting.

Every good day starts off with a cappuccino, and there's no place better to enjoy some frothy caffeine than at the Bulgari Hotel.

As a child I always had a sense of social conditions and political situations. I think it had to do with the fact that my mother was always discussing things with my sister and me - also because I read a lot.

It was a very hard life. As I got older, the family was depending very much on me. My two older brothers got married, so they had their own families depending on them. I had seven people relying on me, so I worked in a grocery store.

My family and I were some of the first people to be genotyped.

When I was very young, I started trying to sing like the great tenor Mario Lanza; my family used to play his records. We all learn best by imitating others.