Fashion is like life. It needs fear and uncertainty if you are to move forward.

Yves Saint Laurent gave women power, Chanel liberated them and when I joined Lanvin, I thought 'what do I bring to women? One day, I received an SMS from a friend in New York - she was in a taxi on the way to court to face her arsehole ex-husband, and she said to me 'Alber, I am wearing a Lanvin dress, and I feel so protected.' That to me was the biggest compliment I ever received. To have a 500 gram piece of silk make her feel protected - that made me very happy indeed.

I always wear a dinner jacket. I never have this definition of what goes for the morning or the evening or what works for the weekend.

If it’s not edible, it’s not food. If it’s not wearable, it’s not fashion.

I am not interested in perfection, and neither are the women who wear my clothes.

I wanted to see people from different age groups, body shapes and personalities wearing Lanvin That is what Lanvin is all about and represents - we dont only do clothes for 20-year-old girls. I love to see mature women wearing Lanvin as well. I love wrinkles, I love grey hair.

I am very sensitive to the smells and sensations that are part of perfumes because they remind me of things: moments from the past, people, events.