Donatella Versace

Hollywood is a very inspiring place.

Women should be sure of themselves because women have a lot of capacities. We can achieve so many different things that men cannot. I think women are stronger.

I love Alexander McQueen. I like the construction of his suits. I think it's fantastic.

I don't see anybody categorized as a 'fashion diva,' except for me! And I like that. I am thought of as a diva because I wear an evening dress and I take care of my look when I go out. I go to parties regarding business, not for fun. And that's why they call me a 'diva.'

In fashion, women have more sensitivity, more sense of the body, so they know how things fit and feel. Yet there are not many women who study fashion. It's ridiculous.

Plus-sized women shouldn't think of themselves as a size. They should think of themselves as women with rich goals in life. Size doesn't mean, really, anything. You can carry your size with pride and dress in a way that you like.

Showing your femininity should help your career and not go against your career. Dressing like a man, using the suit to look powerful - that was the '80s, and that didn't help women.

I like to eat. Definitely. I love sitting around a table with my friends. But I don't know how to cook anything.

You couldn't define the '80s when the '80s were happening. We kept changing. We had shoulder pads, then we didn't. It was revealing, and then it was decoration. It was a lot of things at once. It was defined when it was over.

I studied at a university in Florence and finished my degree. My mother was very strict about this recipe: You need to get your degree.

I think people need to see Prince live to really understand how remarkable he is.

It's very important for a brand to have an identity through the years, but it's very important as well to evolve because times change so fast.

Women are all the same; we want to be smaller in the waist, longer legs, slimmer. I design for women and their defects, to make them better.

We all retire one day. If we want to, if we don't want to.

When I work, I wear pants usually because I want to be comfortable. I wear dark colors, especially in winter, because I don't want to concentrate on myself but on what I'm working on. Because I really, really love clothes, I can start to think too much about myself. It's distracting.

I love anyone who breaks the rules, and musicians always break the rules - in an aggressive way.

I know who the Versace woman is, because I wear the clothes myself.

I think there was a time when I was too strict and controlling. I think I asphyxiated my children.

In order to be responsible, you need some discipline in your life. For a while I lost mine.

I'm a feminist. I want to fight, but I don't see many people with this desire to fight for something. Women don't help each other, especially in fashion.

How do I keep young? Haven't you heard? I sleep every night in the deep freezer!

Something has to change in the world. Without change, young people will have no future.

Powerful women intimidate men. If she's a really well-known woman, she has a career, she's famous - in that case, men are really afraid.

I think men know to seduce women though words and conversation and nice gestures. That's much sexier than when a man uses muscle.

When my mother did fittings for her clients, I was hiding, looking at these beautiful ladies try on these fantastic clothes. I was dreaming as a small child to try these clothes on myself.

My style is not that big. I wear heels, tight pants, and I wear diamonds.

As with most things in my life, I believe you should try to enjoy yourself and never feel like you are a slave to a routine.

I do think that exercise is important, not only to keep you in shape but also for your state of mind. However, I am not fanatical about it.

I wake up at about the same time every day. I sleep well and wake without an alarm clock.

In order to be responsible, you need some discipline in your life.

I'm a designer, and I work very hard at that. People sometimes want to put down fashion by saying it's frivolous or superficial, but it's not that way at all. It's actually very hard work.

I'm like a little kid when it comes to music. I mean, the music is always blasting wherever I am that people always knock on my door and say, 'It's too loud!' But I think music gives so much inspiration.

You can never forget the time you're living in because the past is the past and it will never come back. So to adjust your philosophy and creativity in fashion to the time you're living in is the most important thing.

I think people need to see Prince live to really understand how remarkable he is. He has always been inspiring because he is never afraid to break rules or barriers or invent something new - and if you love fashion, then you need to be able to do that.

To define the era we live in is very difficult. How do we define it? We define it by music.

I was a fashion addict by the time I was 11 years old. I'd wear a miniskirt and patent-leather boots.

You can have small moments of happiness in life. You certainly can't expect years and years of it.

I have to say, I grew up with fashion because my mother was a seamstress, and she had an atelier. She would cut the first pattern, and then she had people working for her. So I grew up in an atelier, watching people all around me sewing. I was fascinated.

People are always surprised when they spend time with my children by how normal they are. They're polite. They're well mannered. They're very down to earth, in a way.

My mother didn't want me to be in fashion. She was in the fashion business, so was my brother, and she thought it was too crazy for me. She wanted me to be married with children, to be independent, yes, but not to have a crazy life.

When I meet celebrities, I have to know what they are like and only then can I design. The clothes have to fit their personality.

Fashion is not frivolous.

New York is full of creative people, not only in fashion.

The first thing I do each morning is get out of bed and give my dog, Audrey, a hug. She's a Jack Russell. I think having an animal is a wonderful thing, particularly dogs. They are great levelers, there's no nonsense with them, and they just want simple affection.

Some men look great unshaven; others just look like they forgot to shave. Beards and mustaches can be really distinctive if you go for an earthy, rock-and-roll look like the Kings of Leon or the Killers.

The three biggest fashion mistakes are cheap suits, shoes, and shirts. Spend your money on something good.

I understand that the rule of fashion is to change, even as a successful designer - you do not want to be stuck in the same rut.

At that time of the supermodels, celebrities didn't want to be in fashion; they thought they were more intellectual and interesting than anyone in fashion.

I have worked with wool all my life as a designer. There's so much more to it than knitwear - it's an amazingly versatile material and can be used in so many different ways from chic to rustic.

You can't pretend that everybody likes Versace. It would be boring. It's better to create a reaction than to create no reaction. That's dangerous.