Stella McCartney

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.

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.

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

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.

I don't know, maybe I'm overly paranoid that they're going to be spoiled, but I want to keep them going as kids for as long as I can. I want to keep them innocent and free.

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 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.

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.

I can debate for weeks whether a trouser should sit on the waist, or a centimetre below, or on the hip, whether it should have a zip or a button, because I find personally that a detail like that can have a massive impact on how I carry myself that day. If I wear a slouchy jean, that will affect my posture and my whole manner.

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.

I was brought up in a way that was based purely on the senses. Everything in my upbringing was a reaction to growing up on an organic farm or to the emotions of animal cruelty, as well as the visuals of my mum's and my father's art - he was also an art collector.

My fragrance is rose and amber, and I was just very specific. A lot of what I've done, at the stages I've done it, I've been a little naive, which brought with it a kind of charm. I did Stella a while ago. It's now a bit of a classic.

Strength on its own in a woman is quite abrasive and not terribly attractive all the time.

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.

I like doing slightly masculine, Savile Row tailoring. A nice jacket. Wearable - it's almost a dirty word in fashion, wearable, but that's what I do.

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

What I really want, what I always really want, is baked potato and grilled cheese. But then I'd be really fat.

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.