MY STYLE Daphne Guinness, style icon, mother

DESCRIBE WHAT YOU'RE WEARING: It's a dress by Gareth Pugh from his second catwalk collection

DESCRIBE WHAT YOU'RE WEARING:It's a dress by Gareth Pugh from his second catwalk collection. He's multi-faceted and the most interesting dress designer to come out of the UK for a while. The platform shoes are made to my own design. The gloves are also by Pugh, with rings from a jeweller in LA - I have a thing about armour. The earrings are 1920s.

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES YOU WHEN IT COMES TO FASHION?:I love white tie, and precise clean cuts. Menswear really inspires me and I love working with tailors. I think Obama is terribly elegant, with his shooting cuffs - shooting cuffs are my thing. I am also inspired by designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Balenciaga, Schiaparelli and Anthony Price. Philip Treacy inspires me, as do old Hollywood and Star Wars.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST TREASURED ITEM?:A very beautiful Balenciaga coat in cherry red duchesse satin with pink interior. I really love my bits and piece of Chanel, a gold sequin coat from the 1920s and my Philip Treacy hats. I love feathers, rose-cut diamonds and old cufflinks.

DO YOU HAVE PET HATES? I hate trainers and shell suits, and I am not good on prints. I like things to look neat and tidy and I hate too many logos. I don't do floaty stuff much.

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HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN FASHION?Yes, since I was a child. I remember at school making trousers from plastic binliners - I have obviously moved on! I think fashion has always been a kind of protection, a form of self-expression, and to me it's about proportions and being able to reinvent the way your body looks. I try to inhabit my clothes.

DID YOUR MOTHER'S STYLE INFLUENCE YOU?Yes, my mother was Suzanne Lisney, so she was part Irish, but more French, and she dressed in a French way and we were often in France. The English tend to be more individual.

DO YOU HAVE FAVOURITE SHOPS?I love Colette in Paris, and tiny places in New York. In London, the Dover Street Market and Virginia Antiques. In Paris I also like Azzedine Alaia, and in LA, Maxfield and Opening Ceremony. I used to like shopping more than I do now.

DO YOU ALWAYS WEAR SUCH HIGH HEELS?I always wanted to be tall, and I shrink when I take off my shoes. I have always had my shoes made to my own design and I wear flats only at the gym. Louboutin made me a pair of shoes out of a Guinness can, but I haven't worn them for years.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO DRESS UP?About 10 minutes. I do my own hair and as long as I have a decent manicure, clean hair and two or three favourite things, then I get myself together very quickly. It's easy once you have the same black and white base. Otherwise it takes me hours.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?I am working with Anthony Price on a collection of shirts, jackets and also dresses - versions of what I design for myself. I am also working on a limited edition scent with Comme des Garçons. I have always made my own scent and I mix up my stuff in a household way, but this was an extraordinary experience. It's the Proustian idea of smell, and scents that take me back to my childhood in Spain.