Giorgio Armani

“I am not in the stock market. I am beholden to no one in what I do. If I spend billions on a fashion show, I spend billions. It's not public. And if I am in the stock market, I am obligated to account for things, and to show what the business is doing.”

“I would say that my idea of style and my taste are the same as when I began: They express my deep appreciation of all that is simple and linear... I always want to keep up with the times but without altering the essential characteristics of my philosophy.”

“In the fashion world, you have to make clothes to sell. You have to make clothes for the press. You have to make clothes for yourself. What I mean is, everything is an obligation. But a writer? A pure artist? Maybe he doesn't make one lira - but he does what he wants.”

“I am happiest in public, working in my world. Then I can be the star. That I can do. When I am not working, I am more guarded, set apart. It's not my life, that. I like interactions, but interaction that is not forced.”

“When I started, I had nothing. Because my family was really, really, really poor.”

“Marketing is not a nice word, but the world is about marketing now.”

“There are always protests, whether you do something good or bad. Even if you do something beneficial, people say you do it because it's advertising.”

“I wanted to dress the woman who lives and works, not the woman in a painting.”

“Jeans represent democracy in fashion.”

“I must always try to do better because perfectionism, and the need to always have new goals and achieve them, is a state of mind that brings profound meaning to life.”

“The excitement does not change. After 40 years in the business, I still find the show to be a magical moment - the performance anxiety, the litmus test.”

“It is difficult to talk about fashion in the abstract, without a human body before my eyes, without drawings, without a choice of fabric - without a practical or visual reality.”

“To create something exceptional, your mindset must be relentlessly focused on the smallest detail.”

“During a fashion show, I want the clothes to speak. The effort I put into my work must be respected.”

“Without insecurities, I think one becomes a little bit of an idiot.”

“Milan is a true metropolis: strong and fearless but welcoming, too. Little by little, I came to realize that I could become someone here.”

“My work today is perceived as being classic, but when I first started out, it was a break from the norm. Since then, I have continued to reinvent myself. I don't change my style, but I allow it to evolve.”

“The difference between style and fashion is quality.”

“China approaches fashion with strong enthusiasm. And I believe that this enthusiasm can be translated into something interesting, economically speaking. Not only for my brand, but also for other brands.”

“My relationship with Paris began when I was working for Cerruti in the mid-1960s. When there was an important event in his store, Nino Cerruti very kindly took me with him. I was fascinated, and the city made a big impression on me.”