My journey into the creative world began in my childhood village near Warsaw, Poland, where I directed fashion shows with friends using my mother's clothes from her wooden basket, experimenting with my first analog camera, and drawing inspiration from my older sister's exceptional drawing skills.

After returning to my native Netherlands, I began studying psychology, sharing accommodation with graduate students working for Dutch designer Iris van Herpen. This confirmed my fascination with haute couture.

Encounters with artists like Aubrey Beardsley, Manuel Orazi, and Tim Walker have profoundly influenced my aesthetic; their romantic fantasy and extravagant costumes evoke the circus, carnival, and the Age of Enlightenment. Toulouse Lautrec is another influence, particularly his depictions of Parisian nightlife, the costume of "The Belly Dancer" and the feathered hat of "Femme de Profil."

Natural beauty and spiritual symbolism have long been guiding forces for my artistic vision. Rabelais and Mikhail Bakhtin ("His World"), castle interiors, and museum collections of opulently attired extras have shaped my inner canvas. From Gustave Moureau's Symbolist extras in "The Apparition" and Alphonse Mucha's Pre-Raphaelite nymphs and goddesses in "Le Pater," to Alexander McQueen's "Savage Beauty" (Fall 2006), and Kristen McMenamy in "Couture Memoirs" by Paolo Roversi (Vogue Italia), these artists have all been integral to my vision.

Cinema and poetry inspire me: examples include Federico Fellini's exquisite costumes, Charles Baudelaire's realm of beauty ("The beautiful is always bizarre"), and Oscar Wilde's belief in the constant search for sensation.

Music influences me in a completely different way. A few years ago, I was very active in the techno scene in Berlin and Amsterdam, then I embraced the rock 'n' roll and punk scenes, finding inspiration in the Velvet Underground ("Venus in Furs"), Edie Sedwick (intense eyebrows, art deco earrings, pronounced makeup and her "raw" perception of the world) and the Indian influences of the 1960s and 70s on rock music and fashion, embodied in the long kaftans and intricately patterned silk dresses of the "Flower Children".

My fashion influences come from the collections of Christian Lacroix Couture (1966), Yves Saint Laurent Juliet (1989), John Galliano's couture for Dior (Spring 1993 and 1998, Fall/Winter 2009; Ready-to-Wear 1994 and 1997), Alexander McQueen (Spring/Summer 2005, Spring/Summer 2007, Spring 2011) and Armani Haute Couture Privé Fall/Winter 2012.

Thus, my inspirations cover a diverse range of artistic expressions, which I have used to style many of my fashion shoots, often with exceptional and sometimes eccentric garments. By combining a regal look with the rock 'n' roll "punk princess" aesthetic, I have created intense yet effortless "Heroin Chic" looks, classic and minimalist. I like to use quality pieces, including large fur coats, Bowie-style color-block eyeshadow, and cowboy boots.