Carmen Marc Valvo took his bow on the runway after showing his Fall 2013 collection and then headed up to the American Express Skybox with 666 Park Avenue actress Helena Mattsson (wearing Carmen, obvi) in tow. The designer chatted with cardmembers about his inspirations for the collection, how he got his start, and his many talents.

“My dad was a doctor, my mom, a nurse, and they thought that I should be a plastic surgeon, instead of using my artistic ability,” Carmen said after showing his premiere shoe collection on the runway, the first time that he’s ever done it. “I still get to use my needle and thread–just in a less invasive manner.”

The designer knew from a very young age that he was creative, he just wasn’t sure what to do with it. So he painted, used charcoals, toyed with architecture and then fine arts, moved to Vienna to pursue his art career, and then at 25 he finally realized that he wanted to be in fashion and enrolled at Parsons.

Whew, can you keep up? Or imagine what would have become of him had he become a plastic surgeon?