I didn't even know 'Vogue' existed when I was growing up.

I never was interested in being part of the fashion world - I just wanted to design shoes. I didn't even know 'Vogue' existed when I was growing up. 'Vogue,' what is that?'

I am always surprised by who wears my shoes. This is a good thing. There is no type of woman, but all my women like to feel feminine. They are women who are happy to be women.

I like to undress women - not to dress them. You know, like Manet's 'Olympia' or Helmut Newton's photographs - naked women with shoes. This is what I am trying to do.

Contrary to what many writers imply about the process, nobody forces a writer to sell his work to the film industry.

My father was a photographer at the National Bureau of Standards. A self-educated man, he never finished high school, but in his career at the National Bureau of Standards, he made many useful inventions and eventually became chief of the Photographic Technology Section.

My initial career, really, as a baby, was as a singer.

I have a hard time being career-minded, but I want to be able to survive as an actor and do work that I think is important and that says something.