Valentino Garavani

“An evening dress that reveals a woman's ankles while walking is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen.”

“There are only three things I can do - make a dress, decorate a house, and entertain people.”

“I have my favourite fashion decade, yes, yes, yes: '60s. It was a sort of little revolution; the clothes were amazing but not too exaggerated.”

“I know what women want. They want to be beautiful.”

“I am like a freight train. Working on the details, twisting them and playing with them over the years, but always staying on the same track.”

“I am especially grateful that I have been able to keep my own style over the decades, in spite of the many changes that have taken place in the world of fashion and in its business.”

“I like things simple.”

“I love my beauty. It's not my fault.”

“I hope people will say, 'Mr. Valentino, he did something for fashion, no?'”

“I am always locked in my design studio.”

“Even as a young boy, my passion was to design, and I have been very lucky to be able to do what I have loved all my life. There can be few greater gifts than that.”

“I didn't like the '80s at all; it was a vulgar moment of fashion.”

“I am happy that thousands of students, young designers and fashion people will be able to see and study my work in every aspect of it.”

“My first year, people were interested in me because I was new. Then the press started to come.”

“Unfortunately, the greatest photographers don't pay extreme attention to the clothes. If they decide to put a dress in a bathtub or in front of a cow in the countryside with dirt everywhere, well, the dresses come back... ready to be put in the garbage.”

“I love the 2000s because everyone started to love haute couture.”