We would go to visit a wholesaler, say in Napoli. We would go out, have a very long lunch, mozzarellas, wine. We would reach an agreement. And then the client would pay with a cheque that was postdated by six months, nine months. They were financing themselves by delaying their payments.

The important thing to remember, if you are trying something that is an innovation, is not to think too much about it. Because if you take too long, by the time you get there, the world will have changed. You take a risk, and if it doesn't work, you make a change. We are not betting our lives on it.

There are programs for the scrapping of appliances, but no one thinks about what's involved in the waste management of brassieres.

I saw these new kinds of stores: the Body Shop, the Sock Shop, and I thought to myself, 'I can do that.'

On 'Platoon' I was offered in 1984 a very tiny part that Ivan Kane would go on to play. Then the financing fell out, and the film was scuttled for two years.

My parents were always living from pay cheque to pay cheque. They were always struggling.