????現在想想，你當初在開公司之前完全不懂其中的艱辛幾乎是件值得慶幸的事。

????真的是這樣。這個問題我想了很多次。當初要是做了商業規劃，預見了種種的艱辛，我可能就會被嚇倒，可能就不會放手去做。事實上我是在什么都不知道的情況下一頭扎了進去。我覺得自己的使命之一就是不必為別人打工。如果你單打獨斗開創了自己的事業，又要包攬那么多的事情，你會習慣所有的事情都親力親為。

????從凡事親力親為到自己當經理指揮別人，你對這樣的角色轉換有什么感受？

????我覺得公司發展壯大以后，我遇到的最大的挑戰之一就是學會把某些事情交給別人去做。

????你是怎么在順其自然和堅持理念之間保持平衡的？

????我覺得公司成立17年依然屹立不倒的原因之一就是，我們會經常審視自己做的事情。干完一天的活，就必須出一個像樣的成果；不能盲目追隨潮流。必須要有自己的個性，而我覺得個性取決于自己的品味。

????你的品牌創立了17年，上周才在紐約時裝周舉辦發布秀。為什么要選擇現在發布？

????我們的品牌銷量很好。要讓品牌暢銷，不一定非得參加那樣的活動。但是之所以選擇在這個時間舉辦發布秀，只是因為我們覺得時機已經成熟，應該讓更多的人知道我們，應該在更高的層次上、以更受矚目的方式經營時裝。

????你這次發布的時裝系列的靈感是什么？

????我們的主題是加利福尼亞現代時裝。我對建筑有點癡迷。加利福尼亞南部有很多現代主義建筑在我看來很有啟發性——它們真的是表現了建材本身的美，而不是靠浮華的風格或裝飾取勝。

????人人都說，要讓純白色的房間看起來漂亮，比讓裝飾富麗的房間看起來漂亮更難，而且難度大很多，因為你會注意到不完美的地方。我們做的就是這樣的事情。我們盡力挑選最好的紡織品，在款式的設計上則相對簡約，力圖表現出紡織品本身的美。

????It's almost as if, thank goodness you didn't know any better.

????It's true, I've thought about that many times. I think if I had done a business plan, I would have been so intimidated by what I was going to try and do that I maybe wouldn't have done it. I just sort of dove in. I guess part of my mission was to not have to work for somebody else. When you start off, literally by yourself and you're doing so many things, you get used to doing everything.

????What is it like to switch from that mode to being a manager?

????I think one of my biggest challenges as this company has grown is figuring out how to let go of some of these things and let other people do their jobs.

????How do you balance letting things go and maintaining your own aesthetic?

????I think one of the reasons why we're still in business 17 years later is because there has been a consistent look to what we've been doing. At the end of the day, it has to look like something; you can't just jump on any trend bandwagon that comes along. There has to be some sort of identity, which is, I suppose, what my taste is.

????After 17 years, you showed at New York Fashion Week last week. Why now?

????We have a successful business and you can do business without participating in that particular event, but we just thought it was time to make sure that people knew that we were here and doing fashion in a more elevated, visible way.

????What was the inspiration for the line that you showed?

????Our theme was California modern. I'm a bit of an architectural hobbyist, and in southern California, there's a lot of modernist architecture that I find inspiring -- It's really about the materials speaking for themselves as opposed to complicated styling or embellishment.

????Everyone says it's much harder to make a plain white room look good than it is to make a very decorated room look good because you notice the imperfections. In the same way, we try to pick the best textiles that we can and then do a style that's relatively simple and just let the material show.