What is the Balmain girl? It’s a woman who knows what she wants and is going to express it

It's amazing to see there aren't boundaries around gender. My menswear business has changed over the years as far as what men are daring to wear. And women, too. Men wanted to look tough, but now they realize you don't have to look like your granddad or dad. You can show a more feminine side.

I wish there were more young people in the big houses, but sometimes it's really hard for them to believe in the youth because they go for what's the most expected.

There are two women that I am really in love with that I wish I could have dressed: The first one is Marilyn Monroe, and the second is Whitney Houston. People always ask me who's going to be the next, and I never know, but I know I would love to have had Marilyn and Whitney wear Balmain.

I think the only word I can use to describe what I'm doing today is feeling free. Of course, it's a business - it's about money at the end of the day, but it's about ideas as well. When you treat fashion only like a business, you're not going to go anywhere when you push on that, we have the chance to express ourselves.

When you become controversial, when you want to promote new ideas, you need to be the face of it and not be scared.

I don't see a difference between a biological family and an adoptive one. I think the difference is more in the eyes of others around you, who might judge because you're not the same skin color as your parents.

What I'm doing now is having people with and around me to build what other designers built before - like Pierre Balmain with Josephine Baker, Audrey Hepburn, Dalida, Brigitte Bardot.

I wish fashion would have changed a bit more obviously, there is change, but it's not enough - for example, I don't think there's enough diversity in fashion on the catwalk, in magazines. I really would love to push that more.

What makes me sad in fashion is that everyone is looking for trends. A trend is one thing. Timeless is another. In 20 years, I've seen so many trends. It makes me sad when people go for the trend versus quality or vision. Or when people wear something so basic just to make sure they're considered cool, like a white t-shirt.