Top 139 Quotes & Sayings by Alber Elbaz

I am always trying to put myself inside: Every dress I do, I think, 'If I were a woman, would I wear it?'

I've always said fashion is like roast chicken: You don't have to think about it to know it's delicious.

I think that if you want to pass emotion, you have to write a letter. Emotions do not pass in SMS or in e-mail.

I certainly can't complain. I work six days a week, if not seven, and eighteen hours out of twenty-four - fortunately, with a great deal of pleasure. Why? Because I only do something if I want to do it; I need to feel a desire, to find pleasure in moving forward, creating, moving, inventing.

I hate bridges. I'm always very insecure on bridges.

The worst thing that can happen is if you're stuck within a bubble and you think that is what life is all about. It's great to see other people and hear from people of different ages and opinions.

In fashion, the time is so short, and even with pre-collection, there are not only dresses, shoes, bags, and furs but now raincoats and T-shirts. It's just an endless amount of work that we have to produce in no time.

I don't think that you can write music if you don't know how to play an instrument. You have to know the basics, then you can go forward.

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

Fashion is not enough anymore. It's not just about what you wear. I mean, I don't know how many women can afford to take the time to come to Paris for three fittings.

I always say that women are very strong and men are powerful. But beauty gives you both strength and power. I never think of it. It's just one of those natural things. It's the only thing I know how to do.

We are being accused that some models are anorexic. But we as fashion designers cannot be blamed, because you know, when I talk to women around the world, rich and poor and young and old and intellectual and not, what they want to be is skinny. You ask them, 'What is your dream?' It's to be skinny. That's all they want.

Many, many times I find that whatever is looking good on the screen doesn't always look or feel good on the body. So who do we design for - do we design for the screen, or do we design for women?

Nothing is ever enough for me. I'm always thinking what is wrong, what needs to be fixed.

I work on fittings, mostly. You know, I sketch less and less in my work. I sketch for the show sometimes, but then it becomes more conceptual. But when I don't sketch, it becomes more pragmatic.

Women try to be the best everywhere, and it's impossible. I want my clothes to give women the freedom to just be - I want them to put on my dresses and shine.

Fashion is not always about what's new, it's also about what's good. And I think if you need to see what's good, you have to be there.

Almost every collection I do has 200 different references. I don't have two of the same coat, two of the same dress. I have it in one color, in one fabric. I've tried to adapt the culture of couture, and the know-how and the heritage, but I try to update it.

My father, who was a hair colourist, died when I was young, so my mother had to work very hard. But at the same time, I do believe that if you have everything, it is easy to make a dinner. When you only have flour and water and olives and potatoes, you have to be much more creative, and that's what my mother is all about.

To be a fashion critic is easy because you just say, 'I love it, I hate it,' but life is more than love and hate.

I am very much a people person.

I spend my time backstage at the Lanvin shows, and when I come out at the end, all I see are people's eyes.

I always wear a dinner jacket. I never have this definition of what goes for the morning or the evening or what works for the weekend.

I love to see old women. I love wrinkles. I love gray hair.

All I want is beautiful. I mean, I like grey hair, I love wrinkles. But this is me.

My dream is to be a doctor. I'm almost working in a laboratory, because I'm trying new techniques, new directions and fabrics, new weaving.

I always think, if I were an editor, and I was invited to a show, and I would have to wait for 45 minutes in the dark or in the cold or in the heat, maybe I would like to have a fresh drink or a piece of chocolate.

Run away from laziness; work hard. Touch intuition and listen to the heart, not marketing directors. Dream.

'Commercial' is not the word that has to be said only by CEOs. It has to be something that is maybe the essence of design, because design has some sort of art in it and creation, but it's also some object that you have to use. There is also this pragmatic end to it.

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.

There is always a reason why, and I need to tell the stories.

I used to hate L.A., but I met such a great group of people there that I fell in love with it.

I think a good designer can exist everywhere and anywhere and all the time. It's all about being good, and I think that our job basically is to make women and men look good.

Our clothes are not always beautiful on the hanger, but put them on, and they fit like bathing suits.

I like having the freedom to dress as I desire.

If I wasn't a designer, I would love to be a doctor. That is my fantasy, my dream. A doctor will give you a tablet if you have a headache, and I will give you a dress, and we both make you feel good.

Stay big in your work and small in your life.

Fashion doesn't look good only on models; it can look good on different people of different ages and different body shapes.

One woman told me that every time she wears Lanvin, men fall in love with her. Another told me she wore Lanvin to face her husband's lawyer because she felt protected. If I can make men fall in love with women and if I can protect women, I think I can die peacefully.

If you take something out of the freezer, it's cold, but what happens when it melts? It's a cool party, a cool person, a cool collection. What does that mean? I'm more interested in things that are uncool, things that have a certain individuality, a certain soul, a certain longevity, emotion, fragility.

I like dresses for night; I like after-party more than party. I like the mystery; I like the dream, like fantasy dresses. I think, also, that you make women dream.

At Yves Saint Laurent, I felt like the son-in-law - like I was part of the family, but not quite. When I was fired, I felt like the widow.

Women can dream at 9 in the morning and at 10 o'clock at night - it doesn't matter.

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

For me, the sketching of dresses was about fantasy and dreams. In my little room at home, I felt that I was somewhere else. In Paris, for instance.

I thought, 'It doesn't matter what that woman is wearing,' but then I realised actually it's our job as designers to make women smile; to bring them the chocolate without the calories.

The designers, photographers and models I work with, they are really hard-working people who are devoting their lives to fashion. They're kind of like nuns of fashion.

It's a major job to help men and women look beautiful.

I wanted to go out of fashion, to study medicine. I thought, you know, who needs fashion? How important is it if you wear a red dress and an orange jacket? It's not, really.

I hate the word 'cool.' It gives me a rash.

I never think people should do things for me. I think I should do things for others. That makes me more comfortable.

I barely finish one pre-collection before I must start on another. Sales start, but I am already elsewhere creatively. The men's show is being prepared, but we also need to think about accessories, perfumes and other items. In sum, I never stop.

I love women. I get along with women more than men, and I have more women friends.

I don't go out to parties because I'd look terrible in pictures. My escape is television - it's like meditation to me.

I do sport at the gym a few times a week, but I hate it. Work is my only remedy. I feel so twisted and horrible in the morning, but then I go to the office and I start feeling better. Work is my Tylenol. Extra-strength.

If I am in a beautiful place, but I don't like the people, I am miserable.

When I'm traveling the world, I don't ever look anymore at the geography - just enough to catch galleries and paintings.

If you change a woman's look, you change her persona.

In high fashion, we're always accused of doing things that are not very relevant, not the real world. I know that it's important sometimes to do fantasy, but I felt like touching people and going back to different women and men, especially the idea of different ages and body shapes.

I want to know where is that committee in Switzerland that sits to decide what is in and what is out. I don't listen to the formula makers. I think maybe I have a selective hearing disorder.