I wanted to dress the woman who lives and works, not the woman in a painting.

You have to have doubts. I have collaborators I work with. I listen, and then I decide. That's how it works.

When I started Giorgio Armani in the mid-'70s, I realized that women needed a way to dress that was equivalent to that of men - something that would give them dignity, an attitude that would help them handle their work life.

I dress in my 'uniform,' or my own dress code, which reflects my personal method and work ethic. My belief is that my plain T-shirt - I have about 40 of them - or blue sweater helps focus others' attention on me and on what I say.

I don't like women who follow fashion in the sense of becoming victims of it. I like women who have elegance, who have allure, who use fashion, rather than the other way around.

The idea of the museum is to show my work since the start, and I wanted to show all of it, not just to choose between different pieces. They are grouped together in themes - minimalism, androgyny, black and white, graphic, flowers, and so on - from the earliest designs to the most recent ones.