Quotes from Hubert de Givenchy

I think when you sell your company and are no longer the master of driving it, it's quite difficult.

I'd love to wear the big pant, like I see on the street, or the blouson, but I'd look ridiculous. I'm not that shape. You must respect yourself.

When you see the best of the best - when you see a Matisse or a Picasso - what interests you is the creativity and harmony.

If I had to start over, I'll do the same thing: street clothes are the future; the client can choose two or three things and combine them as she wants.

You must, if it's possible, be born with a kind of elegance. It's part of you, of yourself.

Of course everyone dreams of living in the 17th or the 18th century because of the costumes, but there were so many incommodities.

It's a fabulous thing to give life to fabric, to make something move well, the harmony of colour.

People say I am a classic designer. I don't try to be classic, but I do try to be simple and elegant.

When you are a designer, what's important is to be aware of things. Everything should lead to an idea, a line to follow, a movement.

It was always my dream to be a dress designer, and my mother accepted that decision.

When I am designing, I keep in mind more the American woman than the French woman.

I had this creativity always with this will for perfection, and I always said to myself, 'Look for what's best.' 'That's your goal, your driving principle.'

In the early '50s, it was still the time of Christian Dior's New Look. Every dress was big and important, and I thought I must do something completely different. Women needed something for daytime that was wearable.

I've stopped making frocks, but not making discoveries.

To be a couture designer is not only to create dresses but to adapt your line to your private customers. It is why couture is expensive. You are like a doctor.

If you want to express yourself, it is difficult to be by yourself. You must have people around you who understand the same music. It is like being the chef d'orchestra. They need you, but you need them desperately.

Fabric is the most extraordinary thing; it has life. You must respect the fabric.

Mine is one of the most beautiful professions in fashion: making others happy with an idea... I am happy because I did the job I dreamt of as a child.

You never finish learning.

You work around a body and adapt the clothes to your own customer, and this is the interesting part. This is why the haute couture exists: because in ready-to-wear, you have not too much fitting.

My grandmother had a cupboard where she kept her collections and textile samples of all sorts of things. When I had good grades, I could take out one piece of work to look at.

The little black dress is the hardest thing to realize because you must keep it simple.

I love to dance, and I love to see people dance. It is good exercise. It gives you a kind of energy.

Each time I'm in a film, Givenchy dresses me.