Stella McCartney

Sometimes I wish I were less sensible.

I think deep down I'm spiritual, but there's nothing I practice.

You have to be hopeful that people will be more educated in how they buy things, and hopefully more luxury brands will start to think that way on a longer-term basis.

My biggest surprises in my everyday job have to do with the challenges of trying to be slightly more responsible as a brand.

I am a fashion designer. I'm not an environmentalist. When I get up in the morning, number one I'm a mother and a wife, and number two I design clothes. So the main thing I need to do is create, hopefully, exquisitely beautiful, desirable objects for my customer.

I was brought up to understand that we are all here on planet earth together.

The beliefs I was raised with - to respect animals and to be aware of nature, to understand that we share this planet with other creatures - have had a huge impact on me.

Modern fake fur looks so much like real fur that the moment it leaves the atelier, no one can tell it's not the real thing. And I've struggled with that.

People think I'm strong, but actually I wanted to crawl away. I thought, I'm going to live in the country with my horse and I'll get a nine-to-five; I don't need this.

It's immoral that people make money out of writing crap, but I try not to obsess about it. I don't want to spend my life being angry.

I can honestly say this industry hasn't made me neurotic about my looks, except maybe my weight. I hope my clothes kind of reflect that. They're meant to make you feel good.

Sustainability goes across everything I do with Adidas and everything I do with my own house, so the Olympic kit is no exception. It is incredibly environmental in the way that it is manufactured. For example, there's no leather; it's free from PVC. There's lots of woven materials, which means a lot less waste.

I'm incredibly sad that my mother's not here to see my kids and that my kids don't get to know her. And she didn't meet my husband. That's one of the hardest things. I don't even know how to put that into words.

There's no excuse for fur in this day and age.

If you try to create something people enjoy, and it happens to be made in a responsible way, then that's when you can really strike an incredible balance.

When you find the person that you settle down with, I guess you mellow. They are taming you, aren't they? Or you're taming them.

I think my differences were, and my differences still are, that I don't really approach fashion in a fashiony way.

Everyone can do simple things to make a difference, and every little bit really does count.

We always had our own vegetables growing up and now I'm doing it with my kids at our house in the country.

Obviously, we live in a society where ageing is feared. But, to me, the alternative to getting old isn't that great. I've got friends much older than me and much younger, and I love that. It means you get to teach as well as learn.

It's important for us as a family to go and sit in the woods sometimes.

I love a pocket. I'm about helping women look as good as possible on the least amount of effort. I want versatility and comfort. Clothes that can go from the office to anywhere. We're always trying on samples at work. If none of us would wear it, chances are no one else will.

I never want to promote an ad that makes women feel bad about themselves, because when I was young, I never felt rich enough or fashionable enough or good enough. I felt talked down to by luxury fashion labels. There was a disconnect. They made me feel we weren't right for each other.

It's not realistic to live in the country at this stage. I've got a business in London. I beat myself up about it all the time.

It's one of my biggest internal struggles - the whole schooling system in London and the fact that my kids are going to a posh school. It freaks me out.

At times I make music, but in private.

If people stop liking my clothes, I'll make a record.

For me, singing is the most natural thing in the world. I've grown up with it and I know I've got that gift.

I confess to being a frustrated musician.

I think the moment that I'm very proud of is building a business without using animals. And, hopefully, changing people's perception of how you can do luxury fashion.

I feel like a different person since my mum passed away, like I'm driving a ship with my husband alongside me and we're leading these four children into unknown waters.

Losing my mum. That was a punch-me moment.

I love that you can have the language between the two worlds of technology and fashion, because I don't think that many designers get to do that.

More than anything I want to be fit so I don't get out of breath when I play football with the kids.

I ride my bike, I work out, I do a bit of, er, dancey things.

I didn't want to be thirtysomething and not know what I was going to do. I was quite afraid of that, there were quite a lot of aimless kids around, in that 'other' side of my life, who didn't really know what to do because they always had a bank balance to fall back on and they were quite lost.

You feel like everyone hates you if you've got a good life, now I feel maybe it's allowed because I've had my share of sadness.

I used to get embarrassed about the fact I liked fashion. I still get a bit cringy.

I don't plan massively in advance.

My job is to make desirable, luxurious, beautiful clothing and accessories women want to buy. My first decision is always based on, 'Can I do this in a more sustainable way without sacrificing design?' If I can, then there is no reason not to.

I literally have meetings at eight o'clock in the morning, and I finish at nine o'clock at night. It sounds pathetic, but I don't even have time to go shopping.

Very early, I thought I would go into music, but I was aware that it would bring a set of obstacles I didn't find particularly attractive. Also, I'm not a great performer! For a while, I thought I would do something in landscape gardening. But it was always fashion for me.