“It pains me physically to see a woman victimized, rendered pathetic by fashion.”

Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it.

I don’t really like knees.

I don’t like [to] make a woman … an abstract concept of the fashion. I don’t like [to] say, “You must wear that.” … I am not a dictator.

Moda je prolazna, dok stil traje, on je večan.

I want to thank all the women who have worn my clothes, the famous and the unknown, who have been so faithful to me and given me so much joy.

Chanel freed women, and I empowered them.

I love women. I love all the bright and attractive people and things of this world, the flame and also the moth, the dancer and the dance.

Decadence attracts me. It suggests a new world, and, for me, society’s struggle between life and death is absolutely beautiful.

I was born with a nervous breakdown.

Finding your own style is not easy, but once found it brings complete happiness. It gives you self-confidence, always.

Fashions come and go, but style is forever.

Fashion is defined by what later becomes out of fashion.

Without elegance of the heart, there is no elegance.

Haute couture consists of secrets whispered from generation to generation,

I’d really like to be in closer contact with life. I’m a little too distant, I guess. I like to place myself outside.

I find men’s clothing fascinating because sometime between, say, 1930 and 1936 a handful of basic shapes were created and still prevail as a sort of scale of expression, with which every man can project his own personality and his own dignity.