MATTHEW WILLIAMSON

Creating a bridalwear collection was a natural progression from my evening wear collections, which are well known for their softly draped and diaphanous silk gowns.

My clothes and my interiors are about making people smile.

The last thing I want to appear is remotely jaded or bitter, which it could come across the wrong way.

Of course I owe so much of my success to my parents.

The V&A is an amazing museum, and the collections have always been a great inspiration to me.

The peacock has become one of my regular sources of inspiration from nature.

I love taking elements and colours from nature and then distorting them somehow.

Pucci was always my favorite brand when I was in college. It has a similar DNA as my label, both in the sexy, uplifting point of view and in the use of color and surface pattern.

I try to go to Marrakesh if there's a Bank Holiday weekend.

A catwalk show is just how it's done; it's just what you do - it's central to the presentation of a collection. It will be a very brave designer who gives up the catwalk entirely in favour of a digital show.

I don't usually Skype. I've used it once, but my boyfriend had to leave instructions: 'This is how you Skype me.' We do it for the business, of course - we have the site and trade online - but, personally, I'm not passionate about it.

London has a very specific kind of style; it's very different to Milan, Paris, and New York. It's nice having that personality that we haven't lost. It's the English quirky style that people like to see when they come to Fashion Week.

Louise Wilson told me she wanted to see more of the 1997 show. And so I needed to reissue that.

I've been fascinated with interior design for as long as I can remember.

I guess I will always be known as a designer who references Ibiza, even though I've only been to the island a couple of times in my early twenties.

No woman can wear prints all the time.

I got my fair share of stick. But I surrounded myself with fabulous girls, and they all loved me because I made them clothes. I remember making them all leopard print tops and tartan skirts for a party we went to once. It's scary to think about it now, actually.

As the label has developed over the years, more and more structure and tailored pieces have been added, and so, whilst the core values of the brand have remained, I feel it's important to try new things and add more layers and dimensions to a collection every season.

I'm a bit of a digital imbecile.

It's always better when travelling to be in a place where your friends know the area well.

I wanted to create a bridal collection that is both a natural extension of the mainline eveningwear but, at the same time, reflects the opulence of such an important celebratory event.

I did candles because I wanted a candle to put in my home. I couldn't find one I liked.

I've only dealt with fabulous brides!

Never shop alone for your bridal dress. Take a friend and bring a camera to take a picture of you. Make sure to get a picture of the back view: that's the part of the dress most people are going to see for the longest time.

I think the woman who buys my dress also wants a beautiful pillow.