Designers must be both conscious and unconscious at the same time. Clear thinking at the wrong moment can stifle talent.

Fashion does not have to prove that it is serious. It is the proof that intelligent frivolity can be something creative and positive

When I was a child I asked my mother what homosexuality was about and she said - and this was 100 years ago in Germany and she was very open-minded - 'It's like hair color. It's nothing. Some people are blond and some people have dark hair. It's not a subject.' This was a very healthy attitude.

The advantage of Fashion is that there is no racism

I don't know Heidi Klum. She was never known in France. Claudia Schiffer also doesn't know who she is.

I am like a TV antenna. I catch everything that is in the air, and then I do it my way.

Chanel is composed of only a few elements, white camellias, quilted bags and Austrian doorman's jackets, pearls, chains, shoes with black toes. I use these elements like notes to play with.