In the latest installment of our video series that goes inside the private working worlds of designers, the consultant Hervé Pierre, the former creative director of Carolina Herrera who as the designer of Melania Trump’s inaugural gown shot to fame in January, reveals how he ended up as the first lady’s stylist, where he shops and whether he will start his own label. This interview has been edited and condensed.

Where are we?

In my apartment, which is also where I work. I live in Madison Square Park in New York, on 26th Street. I’ve been in this apartment for a bit over 10 years now. When I moved to New York from Paris to work for Oscar de la Renta, I was 29 years old and lived in Greenwich Village, and I wanted to create an environment that reminded me of the French world I had left. I brought the moldings and panels with me when I moved here. I didn’t have a very specific plan for how to decorate. It’s like when you go to the flea market looking for a teapot and come back with a frame.

Where do you actually work?

In this little corner in my bedroom. It has a great view because I see the Flatiron building, and it puts me in a good mood to sketch.

What was the most important thing you learned before you went out on your own?

When you work with a woman, it’s not about the clothes. It’s about the way a person is living: the way she eats, the way she organizes, her flowers. Now I ask a question every time I put an idea on paper: Where is this woman going? If you don’t have a purpose, it’s just an idea on paper and the dress means nothing.