If Michelle Obama had stepped out in an outrageously priced jacket by an Italian designer, heads would have rolled. People would have said it was deplorable.
'What if this funny-looking youngster from Missouri is talented after all?' I think it was a nice place to grow up, but I'm glad I don't live there anymore.
Sometimes people have questioned whether I was making fun of the industry or just at myself. I'm just trying to raise a smile. Clothes aren't meant to be worshipped at a church altar.
I don't do many social events in the fashion industry. Instead, I go to things like the MTV awards because that's where I fit in - wearing a yellow tuxedo and no shirt on a red carpet.
There probably wasn't a day that went by in high school that I wasn't bullied either physically or verbally. It made me stronger, and I knew I had to stay steadfast to what I believed in.
Designers have a reputation for setting the tone for what people - and especially women - are supposed to wear. How long their skirts should be, things like that. I have a different philosophy: put something out there with humour; let people see that and come around to it on their own.
