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"    Photo: Getty Images  Oh, to be Tabitha Simmons! The former model became a top fashion stylist, married master photographer Craig McDean, and then launched her own line of shoes to both critical acclaim and sold-out status on Net-A-Porter. We caught up with the British brunette in a breathtaking Rue de Rivoli apartment during Paris Fashion Week, where she was outfitted in a Valentino mini dress while showcasing her own collection, greeting friends with hugs and champagne flutes. Our mission: Squelch the jealous rage rising within our hearts and discuss Simmons&amp;#039; (insanely cool) spring 2014 collection. Read on how to see how we did... This collection is extremely colorful. Did you do a series of heels based on friendship bracelets and ribbon belts? Exactly, but with a twist. These pieces came from a trip my husband and I took. He planned a surprise 10-year wedding anniversary vacation to Peru! So this grouping is almost like, &amp;quot;preppy stripe-shirt girl travels to the Andes.&amp;quot; So that&amp;#039;s why you see the blue and white Oxford stripes, along with the colorful embroidery. And since it was our anniversary, I incorporated little hearts into the prints, too\u2014you can see them around the borders So you&amp;#039;re on a romantic getaway to an amazing location, and you&amp;#039;re still designing in your head? Right?! It&amp;#039;s the thing about designing, I suppose. You can never turn ideas off in your mind, hence\u2014literally\u2014these shoes. You go on a vacation, or what&amp;#039;s supposed to be a vacation, and you end up coming back with a new collection in your head. You see things from a styling point of view first. You think, &amp;quot;Oh, that&amp;#039;s a great idea for a collection!&amp;quot; before anything else! Where do you stash things that inspire you? On your iPhone?  The image always starts in my head. I might click something into my iPhone, but what&amp;#039;s in my head always becomes the closest thing to the finished design. It&amp;#039;s pretty much from my brain. What&amp;#039;s the worst advice you&amp;#039;ve ever gotten as a designer? &amp;quot;Follow the trends.&amp;quot; That&amp;#039;s the worst, you should never do it! Stick to what you believe in, and hope it falls into the mood of the season, but even if it doesn&amp;#039;t, you have to do what you do, otherwise what&amp;#039;s the point? There are flats on every runway this season. Tell us your rules for styling them. I&amp;#039;m wearing a flat today, and my rule is, when you&amp;#039;re wearing a flat, keep your bottoms short. It can be a mini dress, it can be a capri pant, just make sure you pair a flat with something shorter so the shapes even out. Do your friends try and steal your shoes when they come over to your house? They&amp;#039;re so sneaky! Normally, they literally come up to the studio to say &amp;quot;Hello,&amp;quot; and then they&amp;#039;ll sort of sneak a personal order in. So they&amp;#039;ll drop by the showroom, and then they&amp;#039;ll be like, &amp;quot;Oh wait, as long as I&amp;#039;m here, can I have an order form?&amp;quot; So you never believe someone when they text, &amp;quot;Coming over, just want to say hi&amp;quot;?  [Laughs] Exactly! It&amp;#039;s never just to say &amp;quot;Hello!&amp;quot;   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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