"For me, it all began with being born into a family like Fendi. My destiny was to breathe fashion from the first day of my life. As a young girl, I was always in the atelier. It was not the same for my sisters or my cousin, so I probably had it written in my DNA.
I was five years old when Karl Lagerfeld started at Fendi and I modelled in his first show. I remember going along the catwalk, and I understood that it was something energetic, and much more exciting than being at home with my sisters playing with Barbies. Here, you could play with real clothes.
I was not very good at school, but the women in my family were very strict. You either had to work or you had to study. There was no chance of the ' It girl' moment for me, no way. I started working at Fendi when I was just 19.
They thought it would suit me to take care of our trunk shows, so I could see the world and enjoy life a bit. I used to travel a lot, and I went out a lot at night, too. I would go directly from Studio 54 to work.
I didn't need to be a feminist because I was brought up in a place where being a woman was a plus not a minus. My father died when I was very young, leaving three daughters, and my mother is a very special woman.