01 - "I know how much you love Tommy Hilfiger"

It wasn't my first Christmas, but one of the first I can remember. We had just bought the house in LA, it was 80 degrees out and I wondered when the snow would come. Mother had placed all our presents under a small yucca tree in the living room, we came down early in the morning to open them and there it was: a black waist long Tommy Hilfiger polyester jacket with a fluffy fur collar.

I remember the confusion. When did I tell her that? Does she love Tommy Hilfiger, is that why she got it for me? It's still a mystery, I have no idea what she meant but I know it helped shape my fashion sense. I browsed through the dresses and jackets in her closet: Dior, Prada, Chanel, Givenchy, YSL. No Tommy Hilfiger, no Ralph Lauren, no polyester.

I wore the jacket once, it felt like a charade. For my next Christmas, mother gave me three hundred-dollar bills and the Rolling Stones album Let it Bleed.