The problem is that we as a society simply accept these unrealistic standards: that you have to be thin to be perfect, to be beautiful, to be successful at work and to have a good relationship. And it is making us sick. This self-loathing is crippling women.

The girls everyone considers the "prettiest" are not always the most interesting or ambitious people.

Enough time had passed that I was ready to write the book Hungry. Was it absolutely difficult? Completely. I had to go back and relive one of the more traumatic things in my life. I destroyed my body for three years and I nearly killed myself for a passion that I had. But I was finally able to close the door on that part of my life. It also allowed me to have a voice. And that's something I've wanted since I was a young girl, to be able to be heard.

We women are a lot more powerful if we see ourselves as fighters on the same side. But it’s easier to judge others - their choices and their bodies - than to think about the struggles we share.

I absolutely believe that when one goes on vacation, it should be pure decadence.

It's so hard to give beauty a meaning. I actually find quite a lot of beauty in really painful things. Really grotesque things. Things that are disturbing. I think as you go and as you see things in the world, your idea of beauty expands and I think I'm lucky because I've been exposed to so many different types of beauty and I've realized that any feeling you cherish is beautiful.

There are moments in your life where you're like I have arrived. I'm here and I'm living and I'm present. And working with Jean Paul Gaultier was one of them.