We are comfortable with formulas, but the best happens when the formula doesn't work.

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

I don't like perfection - I think it's dangerous. There is nothing after perfection.

A singer can quit once he or she has made ten great songs; a director can finish once he or she has made five amazing films; a writer just needs to write three great books.

For me, Lancome was more than just a brand. There was something very nostalgic about the name, about the whole story.

Wear flats. You're short. It's much cooler not to pretend.

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.