Marie Helvin

The average British woman is a size 12 to 14, but in modelling, a size 12 is considered huge, which is ridiculous.

I grew up in neighbouring Hawaii, where Tahiti is regarded as a brother.

I definitely think men prefer women more undone and natural than butch and masculine. They prefer a fresher, sexier, more feminine look.

The basic parts, the start-up molecules, can be supplied in abundance and don't have to be made by some elaborate process. That immediately makes things simpler.

Recently, I was in Bernalda, my dad's ancestral home town in Italy. He has just refurbished a palazzo and turned it into a hotel, so we had my sister's wedding there. It was beautiful.

I had this wild imagination. I was never me. All my childhood photos, I'm in fancy dress, playing a Russian refuge or Marvelous Mad Madam Mim.