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While he's still gaining attention in Asia, in the U.S. Michael Kors is already a household name.

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With his clean, pragmatic, glamorous designs, he successfully tapped into a niche of consumers hungry for easy-to-wear, accessible luxury at a lower cost.

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Despite being at the helm of his namesake brand for more than three decades,

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it wasn't until his appearance as a judge on the reality TV series Project Runway that he reached new heights in popularity --

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a far cry from the 21-year-old fashion school dropout who began his career designing for a small shop in Manhattan.

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And despite filing for bankruptcy in 1993, the Michael Kors brand has endured, saved by two Hong Kong-based investors.

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Today, Kors's clothing, bags and watches are sold in 300 outlets across 85 countries.

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And since listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011,

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Michael Kors has become a billion-dollar company and made the man a billionaire in his own right.

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How have you had to change the way you think about your brand in today's world?

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Well, of course, I think the huge change... you know, when I first started in my business, our idea of, you know, "global" was Canada, you know, the UK.

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And now... you know, we certainly never thought that there'd be Michael Kors stores everywhere, from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur, to... you know, to here in Shanghai.

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But what's happened is the borders really have fallen all around the world as far as fashion.

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As far as me changing my process, well, we live in a world now where the weather is inconsistent.

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In a warm city like Hong Kong, it's overly air-conditioned, so you need a cashmere cardigan, even in the heat.

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In a city like Moscow, you walk into a club and women are wearing sandals.

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So, all of that has made me readjust to thinking about seasonless, things that pack well and things that have versatility.

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What advice do you give, be it based on what you've gone through and [or] what you... your experience, do you tell young designers?

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Well, I think it's... I think, first off, you have to be smart enough to know who your client is.

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So I think you've gotta spend time on the streets, in the stores.

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Don't try to explode and be, you know, explosive quickly.

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Don't you want to have a long-term career?

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So, you can build slowly. Don't try to make an enormous collection, you know, your first time up at bat.

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Focus on something.

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And I think the other thing that's so important is to really... you know, when you realize what it is that you believe and what you love,

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it has to be something that has longevity.

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You know, you want it to be able to evolve, but at the same time, you have to have fingerprints.

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So, if you change season in, season out, no one will have any idea who you are as a designer.

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And it's very confusing to the customer.

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What has been your vision all these years? Has it stayed true to it?

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Well, it's very funny. When I had my anniversary, my 30th anniversary in business, I won the CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award.

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So, suddenly I had to kind of look back at my career and I found the piece that Anna Wintour had written about me for New York magazine,

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and it said, "He plans on keeping his collections understated but glamorous, comfortable but opulent."

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I mean, these have been things that have always been a part of my DNA.

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We've never made clothes that we've put down a runway that women wouldn't want to wear.

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I'm most excited when I see it on the street.

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I came from a retail background, so I think I've been pretty consistent.

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But certainly at the same time, times change.

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And you have to experiment, try new things. It's a new world.