Fashion's New Attitude

What made you decide to design clothes?
It's just always been something that I've wanted to do. It's my passion. I love women's bodies. I love luxury. I've waited a long time to do this, and I didn't want to do it until I could do it properly.

Do you design for a particular body type or with a particular woman in mind?
Everything that I design I would wear myself. I get a lot of inspiration from the '40s and '50s, so corsetry plays a huge role in the collection. It can help give an illusion of shape by using a bigger shoulder pad, and having a corset gives the illusion of having a tiny waist. But there are dresses that will cater to a lot of different shapes and sizes.

You did a tour recently with the spice girls. would you ever return to music?
No. I'm very respectful of the Spice Girls. What we did was fantastic. Actually, I'm seeing all the girls tomorrow night, which I'm excited about. But fashion is my passion; music isn't anymore. Everything I do revolves around my husband and my children. So I just wouldn't have the time, but on top of all of that, people change, and I've changed a lot, and it's just not where my heart is at anymore.

You seem to wear only high heels. would you ever design a line of shoes?
I would love to. Shoes and handbags, like most women, are something I have a little bit of an obsession with.

Your personal style has evolved a lot since your early days in the media with the spice girls. how do you feel when you look back at pictures of yourself?
People always say, "Do you cringe?" And I say, "Not at all." —Everybody changes. I love fashion, and I love changing my style, my hair, my makeup, and everything I've done in the past has made me what I am now. Not everyone is going to like what I do, but I look back at everything, and it makes me smile.

How do you feel when you look at those armani underwear photos that just came out?
I love those pictures. I worked very hard. I worked out for about four or five months previous to the shoot because I knew I'd be standing there in my knickers and a bra. So when I'm 50, I can look back and say, "Hey, Mommy didn't look too bad after having three kids."

You always seem unfazed by the paparazzi, and they're trailing you all the time. how do you maintain that sense of calm with all these people taking pictures of you?
It is what it is, and I don't like to get too stressed. I like to consider myself a relatively spiritual person, and I just do my thing. I'm very focused on what I do professionally, and I'm very focused on my family, and I don't really get too stressed out about what people say or what other people think. In fact, it's not on my radar at all. If there's anything negative, I don't want to know about it. I just do my own thing and get on with my life. We've got many more important things to think about — such as if something is happening with the children's school or have I paid for the swimming lessons?

Who is your favorite designer?
Antonio Berardi is one of my good friends. I've known him for 10 years, and he made one of my wedding dresses. We had lunch this afternoon, and he took me to the showroom, and his precollection is absolutely amazing. So I'm a big fan of his at the moment.

Who are other people you admire in other fields?
You know myself and David, we both love art. We have a lot of respect for Damien Hirst and Julian Schnabel, and we've met them both, and they're very interesting characters. I also have a lot of respect for the working women out there. As you know, it's not easy when you're looking after children and you have a career as well.

In this rough economic climate, what kind of steps are you taking to cut back?
Everyone is cutting back in lots of different areas, and we are too. I wouldn't want to go into detail, because obviously that's personal, but I think it is something that is affecting absolutely everybody.

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