Bella Freud: Fashion designer, The 5-minute Interview

'It's illegal to hit adults, so the smacking of children should be banned'

Bella Freud, 47, the great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud is a fashion designer well-known for her preference for masculine cuts and traditional fabrics such as tweed. She has worked with the British brands Jaeger and Miss Selfridge, and her celebrity clients include Madonna, Courtney Love, and Kate Moss. She will be appearing on Sky Arts's 'Friday Night Hijack' season.

If I weren't talking to you right now I'd be...

Doing millions of other things – probably having a cup of tea.

A phrase I use far too often...

"God", "nightmare", "amazing" – I am a fashion designer after all.

I wish people would take more notice of...

What's going on in Palestine because if they knew the level of suffering of the Palestinian people, they would be outraged and appalled. People would demand that something should be done.

The most surprising thing that happened to me was...

Having a baby. It's just beyond your control.

A common misperception of me is....

That I am more confident or stuck up than I actually am.

I am not a politician but...

If I were, I would ban smacking children. It's illegal to hit an adult and not a child. Every time it comes up in Parliament, they let it go through each time.

I'm good at...

Parking.

I'm very bad at...

Mathematics.

The ideal night out is ...

Staying in with my husband and watching Mad Men (an American television series). It's about the birth of advertising in the Sixties and it's totally spellbinding – a masterpiece.

In moments of weakness I...

Read my horoscope. It usually tells me not to be impulsive.

You know me as a fashion designer but in another life I'd have been...

A nurse or a bass guitarist.

The best age to be is...

In your late thirties. You look young, but you've got some wisdom, which helps you to not be thrown by people's weird behaviour.

In a nutshell, my philosophy is this...

Desmond Tutu just put it beautifully: If you don't try, you'll never succeed.

Deborah Sterescu