Poppy King

Being female. Not feminine. Feminine is a construct, whereas female is a fact. I devoted my entire life to exploring what it means to be female and that is why I ended up with my own brand of lipsticks—wearing lipstick is a ritual that means female all the way back to primitive times and still holds the same power in the 21st century.

To be in fashion right now means to understand the difference between feminine and female and to get the balance right: too feminine and we are back in the submission of the '50s, too confrontational and it becomes '80s power woman. But in between these two is that wonderful space that it just 100 percent female—neither overly hostile nor apologetic. Perhaps if Hillary Clinton had got this sense of female right it may have turned out differently for her.

Some people, designers, places and things that always inspire me in regard to this balance are Azzedine Alaïa, Louise Bourgeois, the movie Cabaret, Biba, Nan Goldin, Man Ray, Dorothy Parker, Prada, the ocean, Lisa Yuskavage, Maria Callas, the Taj Mahal and every single woman I have met out there when I am selling my lipsticks—they too are exploring their own intriguing, frustrating and fascinating path that is female.