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.

Making them feel gorgeous and comfortable is my way of making women's lives easier.

Fashion is about having a fantasy.

The problem with couture is not designers; it's what happens when the couturier will no longer be there.

Why not touch things that we hate and turn them upside down and inside out?

I think 'modesty' is a beautiful word today - and a beautiful attitude.

I created the peplum so you can eat in it. You can have a dessert, you can have another sandwich.