Picture by Sergio Calatroni

Age?
Never ask the age to a woman!

From:
Lugano, Switzerland.

Living in…
Lugano and Milan.

Family & Friends:
My daughter Carolina, my son Giovanni and my husband Gianni. We are a very close family with close friends.

What are you wearing?
A printed top and wide khaki trousers in heavy cotton from Marni’s winter edition 2011.

Memorable runway:
The last one

A film:
Fried Green Tomatoes

Food:
Chocolate

Music:
Florence and the Machine

What is your most prized possession?
A set of pictures from Cindy Sherman. Everytime I see them they make me happy!!!!

How would you describe your style?
Instinctive

Hidden Talent?
Good skier

Just designed…
Marni Resort and Summer edition 2012 two very different collections.

Where are you right now?
In London, winding down after our ten year anniversary show at the British Museum.

What is your current state of mind?
Clear. I have a great team around me that make things possible, productive and enjoyable

Where do you feel most at home?
Deep in the Somerset countryside where I grew up or weirdly on the African plains.

Why fashion?
I always knew I wanted to create, from a very young age. I always loved making things. I did my masters in textiles and print and I made my fabrics into clothes to sell to help pay my way. I then made things from leather and knitwear and decided to put a collection together, not realizing what I was getting myself into.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
“Just get on with it”. Listen to your own voice. It is so easy to be side tracked by other opinions.

What was the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?
Putting all and everything and more and one hundred and fifty percent of my time, focus and energy building something from scratch.

If I wasn’t a designer, I would have liked to be…
A photographer or painter… Would make me more than happy. I would also love to do interiors one day.

What is your perfect idea of happiness?
A quiet few days with my son in the countryside.

When and where were you happiest?
At home with my family and friends. I have a three year old son, Fox.

If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?
I wish I could switch of easier – and not push myself so hard, maybe know when to stop.

What is your greatest fear?
Loosing my focus – and sometimes…. ageing.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Shoes, chandeliers and jewellery. I love them, always trawling through markets in Paris and London looking for the perfect ones.

What was the last thing you bought?
Some Charlotte Olympia Bruce shoes. Really cool with a cast leopard on the front of them.

What are you reading right now?
Sex at Dawn.

What was the last thing you read?
The proofs of my own book, True British. It is launching this October. It is an open document telling the story of Temperley through the last ten years.

What as the last film you watched?
High Society with Grace Kelly, I drew inspiration for the SS12 collection from this film, in particular Grace Kelly’s character.

If your life could be a film, which would it be?
I would love to say Alice in Wonderland.

What sites do you visit everyday?
I don’t visit any.

What is your most treasured possession?
My 1960’s Thunderbird and my engagement ring, a large aquamarine 20′s vintage piece.

What would you like to be reincarnated as?
A tiger and to live somewhere safe.

What makes you laugh?
My son.

What makes you cry?
Anything that involves mistreatment of children

Which question do you most dread being asked?
Ones like this…

If you could add one question to this what would it be?
Do you wish fashion could slow down and not be so seasonal and constant to give you days on one piece?

Where are you right now?
Studio on Kingsland Road

What is your current state of mind?
“Focused” – on our SS12 collection

Where do you feel most at home?
At work (London)

Why fashion?
You learn something new everyday

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Always follow your natural instinct

What was the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?
Starting our own business

If I wasn’t a designer, I would have liked to be…
A plumber, fixing things

What is your perfect idea of happiness? When and where were you happiest?
With friends trekking through the Javanese jungle in Indonesia

If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?
Unforgiving

What is your greatest fear?
Loathe

What is your greatest extravagance?
Extravagant holidays

What was the last thing you bought?
Hiking boots

What are you reading right now?
Nothing at the moment as we have no time for it

What was the last thing you read?
Memoirs of Hadrian

What as the last film you watched?
Sena

If your life could be a film, which would it be?
Gone with the wind

What sites do you visit everyday?

http://talesofendearment.com

What is your most treasured possession?
My bike

What would you like to be reincarnated as?
Scarlet O’Hara

What makes you laugh?
Silly things

What makes you cry?
Sad movies

Which question do you most dread being asked?
All of the above!

If you could add one question to this what would it be?
Why?

Where are you right now?
In a diner.

What is your current state of mind?
Delighted that it’s cold and rainy. NYC has been unbearably muggy for the last 4 months.

Where do you feel most at home?
At home.

Why fashion?
Because it’s fluid and ever-changing. Make-up is viewed as important to the overall vision of fashion, not just a necessary evil. I feel like the lucky one who gets to put the cherry on the top of the sundae.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
That’s a tough one. Make-up maestro Scott Andrews showed me how he used Q-Tips and witch hazel to fine tune make-up with no mess. Before I knew that, I felt like I had to draw a masterpiece without an eraser every time. Another one: “It’s easier to apologize than to ask permission.” Amy Sedaris told me that one.

What was the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?
Probably jumping from one rooftop to another in Atlanta back in 1988. We were trying to avoid getting id’d at a club because we were underage. We got in but didn’t stay very long because it was boring.

If I wasn’t a makeup artist, I would be…
Some kind of artist. That’s all I’m good at. I might be an okay psychiatrist but I don’t think I’d like it.

What is your perfect idea of happiness? When and where were you happiest?
When I’m working on a painting and it’s going well, because it’s like making something out of nothing. Or having a laugh with an old friend. Don’t remember when I was happiest. I’m not very emotional. Moving to NYC in 1990 made me happy.

If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?
I’d like small feet.

What is your greatest fear?
Don’t want to say because it might happen.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Buying art.

What was the last thing you bought?
An Adrian drawing of his left hand from the 1930’s.

What are you reading right now?
Deluxe : How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas

What was the last thing you read?
Cher – The First Time

What as the last film you watched?
Secrets (1933) starring Mary Pickford

If your life could be a film, which would it be?
The Man Who Fell To Earth

What sites do you visit everyday?
Facebook

What is your most treasured possession?
That’s really hard to narrow down.

What would you like to be reincarnated as?
Myself. Then I would know what to do and what not to do.

What makes you laugh?
Michael Kors’ critiques on “Project Runway”.

What makes you cry?
The Wizard of Oz, the part when Miss Gulch takes Toto and Judy Garland realizes that no one has her back.

Which question do you most dread being asked?
“Is Kabuki your real name?”

Where are you right now?
Silver Lake California

What is your current state of mind?
Can’t decide if I should buy the new Kanye/JZ Album or not?

Where do you feel most at home?
L.A.

Why fashion?
Because it challenges me

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Anna Wintour said, “You can’t be all things to all people.”

What was the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?
Dropping my advertising career for fashion.

If I wasn’t a designer, I would be…
A cinematographer

What is your perfect idea of happiness? When and where were you happiest?
When I watch a good movie. Recently, when I saw “I am Love.”

If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?
My baby fat

What is your greatest fear?
To lose a loved one

What is your greatest extravagance?
White chocolate

What was the last thing you bought?
Five Necklaces from my friends Blake and Logan from B.Lo Jewelry

What are you reading right now?
Granta, “ The Best of Young Spanish Novelist”

What was the last thing you read?
A series of essays about Josephine Baker.

What as the last film you watched?
Doris and Bernard

If your life could be a film, which would it be?
Any film written and directed by Christopher Nolan

What sites do you visit everyday?
Behance.net (every night before I go to bed)
jjjjound.com (can’t stop looking at it)
motionographer.com (the news of my world)
synchroness.com (where music and moving images collide)
businessoffashion.com (My online college of fashion)

What is your most treasured possession?
My memory.

What would you like to be reincarnated as?
Ryan Gosling

What makes you laugh?
People and dogs.

What makes you cry?
Movies

Which question do you most dread being asked?
What’s the budget?

If you could add one question to this what would it be?
Q/Who would you like to go on a road trip with?
A/ Bruce Weber