'I get up about 8.30am. I still live in Elizabeth Street in London, where I moved straight from college. I used to live in [fashion editor] Isabella Blow's basement, but now I have my own house, which I share with two Jack Russells; Harold and Archie. My shop is across the road and my studio is in Battersea.
In the morning, I walk around the block with the dogs then they have to eat first because they are the most important people in the street - according to them. I'm not a big breakfast person, so I'll just have a cup of coffee. Then we walk to work. It takes about 25 minutes and I have the pleasure of passing through Battersea Park. It's at that time of the day you really notice the changing of the seasons with the leaves on the trees.
I'm in my workshop by 10am and I'll work out what needs doing for the day. There might be a production meeting; I'll check what everyone's working on, whether it's a hat for a catwalk show, a private client or one of the shops we sell to; or we might have a buyer or a customer coming in. The day can consist of many things.
When you are dealing with private clients, you have to create a psychological profile of them. They are usually buying a hat for that ultimate, once-in-a-lifetime occasion. Every woman has a moment in their lives when they want to look and feel like a million dollars, so it's a serious exercise for me and them, especially if they've saved to buy a hat. You have to interview the client to find out what they like and don't like, and the complexity of the occasion - is it a second wedding, is it a stepson's marriage, or are they the mother of the bride? There are stupid etiquette rules and I couldn't care less about them, but I have to make the person happy. You could say to them, 'This is me, like it or lump it!' but they might not come back.
We make hats for everyone from Marilyn Manson to members of the British royal family. There is a big gap between those two cultures so you have to be very aware. With someone like Camilla Parker-Bowles, I make sure it works for everybody's purpose: for hers, the public's and the occasion. Last year, I met Queen Elizabeth during a design evening at Buckingham Palace and even though you aren't supposed to ask questions, I was inside the palace and thought, 'What the hell.' So I asked her if she liked to wear hats. She looked a little startled, thought for a moment and said, 'It's part of the uniform.'
Hats are beauty-enhancing accessories - the ultimate glamour accessory. The head is the most potent part of the body to decorate. It's what you meet for the first time. When you are introduced to someone, you don't meet their toe, hand, leg or thigh; you meet their face.
When I started designing hats, they were considered for ladies of a certain age. I've tried to make them sexy and young. We all have a head and we can all wear a hat, so everyone out there is a potential hat wearer. I don't believe there are people who can't wear hats and I'm particularly attracted to customers who don't like hats.