The boom for luxury goods is unending. There are people who never have to worry about whether they can afford something they like. In one part of the world or another there will always be someone with money to spend on luxury.

Of course China is an important new market for Tod's, and of course we need to succeed commercially. But I believe the way to do that is not to aim to deliver results in the short term by thoughtless expansion, but instead to explain to the Chinese people what our brand is really about.

On weekends, the U.S. was casual; in Italy the weekend was very formal. I came to understand that weekends are about free time, and that one could wear high quality, tasteful products that weren't so formal.

I remember perfectly my first trip to New York, when I was on the bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan, when I saw the skyscrapers. It was like an incredible dream.

I was looking for a name with an old English sound, very easy to pronounce in every language and easy to remember. At the beginning I used J. P. Tod's, but then in 1999 it was shortened since too many people were asking who was Mr. J. P. Tod's.