Quotes from Hubert de Givenchy

I don't think I am avant-garde. I made a lot of creations and created harmony with my fabrics, but I was not like Balenciaga, for example, although he was, of course, a great inspiration.

As time passes, we like to simplify our lives.

Always I remember when I am young, I ask my mother, 'I really want to be a dress designer.' In that time, was quite difficult because, you know, my family always criticize me for it not to be a man's job.

Like in great painting and architecture, in couture, to make clothes you must eliminate, eliminate, eliminate to obtain the true sense of a line. You see, the more you add, the more you load on, the more it's mad. You must try to have just the silhouette, which is an intelligence in clothes.

I think all beautiful women have a clean look. They like things that are simple.

It gives you a good feeling. Each year, you rediscover in a garden the magic of life. A flower arrives, and it is a miracle. The leaves fall in the autumn, and it looks fantastic. There is a tenderness about a garden, and you can't help but be sensitive to that.

I am of tradition, but that doesn't mean I have an old outlook on life.

Balenciaga was my religion. Since I'm a believer, for me, there's Balenciaga, and the good Lord.

Fashion should evolve slowly, without any revolution.

To have lived your dream is very rare in life. I am a very happy man. I have been so fortunate.

My mother was a beautiful lady, elegant, chic, and that was the biggest inspiration to me.

I didn't do any designs for 'My Fair Lady.'

Life is like a book: one has to know when to turn the page.

Each of my garments is something special in itself. You give all your energy to each piece, to each creation, and I have no favourite. I love all of them equally.

It's the most beautiful job in the world to give happiness to people.

Clients become very attached to the fitter who they feel understands them.

Encouragement helps you to go one step more, become better.

I had the fortune to evolve at a time when fashion was very important, and women dressed themselves very well. A woman who dressed very well also had a husband who would have beautiful collections of art and decorative objects.

Balenciaga taught me everything I know. He taught me to care for the details, that it was not necessary to sew on a button where it had no use or to add a flower to make a dress beautiful... no unnecessary detail.

A piece of material has a life. You must never upset it if you want the material to speak.

American and Italian women stimulate designers to do new things.

As a student, I was more gifted in history and geography. Things like arithmetic were not my strength.

Hair style is the final tip-off whether or not a woman really knows herself.

Hair style is the final tip-off whether or not a woman really knows herself.