Alber Elbaz

“I never think people should do things for me. I think I should do things for others. That makes me more comfortable.”

“Nothing is ever enough for me. I'm always thinking what is wrong, what needs to be fixed.”

“I hate the word 'cool.' It gives me a rash.”

“The designers, photographers and models I work with, they are really hard-working people who are devoting their lives to fashion. They're kind of like nuns of fashion.”

“For me, Lancome was more than just a brand. There was something very nostalgic about the name, about the whole story.”

“My father, who was a hair colourist, died when I was young, so my mother had to work very hard. But at the same time, I do believe that if you have everything, it is easy to make a dinner. When you only have flour and water and olives and potatoes, you have to be much more creative, and that's what my mother is all about.”

“The nature of fashion is family.”

“To be a fashion critic is easy because you just say, 'I love it, I hate it,' but life is more than love and hate.”

“There is always a reason why, and I need to tell the stories.”

“I want to know where is that committee in Switzerland that sits to decide what is in and what is out. I don't listen to the formula makers. I think maybe I have a selective hearing disorder.”

“A singer can quit once he or she has made ten great songs; a director can finish once he or she has made five amazing films; a writer just needs to write three great books.”

“When I'm traveling the world, I don't ever look anymore at the geography - just enough to catch galleries and paintings.”

“I don't think you can be a designer if you don't care.”

“I thought, 'It doesn't matter what that woman is wearing,' but then I realised actually it's our job as designers to make women smile; to bring them the chocolate without the calories.”

“Our clothes are not always beautiful on the hanger, but put them on, and they fit like bathing suits.”

“Stay big in your work and small in your life.”

“Run away from laziness; work hard. Touch intuition and listen to the heart, not marketing directors. Dream.”

“When I was either 7 or 8 years old, I did a sketch every day of my teacher and what she wore. At the end of the year, I gave her the sketchbook. For me, the sketching of dresses was about fantasy and dreams.”

“I am very much a people person.”

“If you take something out of the freezer, it's cold, but what happens when it melts? It's a cool party, a cool person, a cool collection. What does that mean? I'm more interested in things that are uncool, things that have a certain individuality, a certain soul, a certain longevity, emotion, fragility.”