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.
— Alber Elbaz
Our clothes are not always beautiful on the hanger, but put them on, and they fit like bathing suits.
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 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.
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.
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.
Why not touch things that we hate and turn them upside down and inside out?
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.
If I am in a beautiful place, but I don't like the people, I am miserable.
I used to hate L.A., but I met such a great group of people there that I fell in love with it.
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 never think people should do things for me. I think I should do things for others. That makes me more comfortable.
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.
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.
The problem with couture is not designers; it's what happens when the couturier will no longer be there.
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.
I hate the word 'cool.' It gives me a rash.
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.
I am very much a people person.
I've always said fashion is like roast chicken: You don't have to think about it to know it's delicious.
I love to see old women. I love wrinkles. I love gray hair.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It's a major job to help men and women look beautiful.
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.
When I'm traveling the world, I don't ever look anymore at the geography - just enough to catch galleries and paintings.
