“The French say you get hungry when you’re eating, and I get inspired when I’m working. It’s my engine”

“When people talk about the good old days, I say to people, 'It's not the days that are old, it's you that's old.' I hate the good old days. What is important is that today is good.”

“I like to reinvent myself — it’s part of my job.”

“I do my job like I breathe — so if I can’t breathe I’m in trouble.”

“I never touch sugar, cheese, bread... I only like what I'm allowed to like. I'm beyond temptation. There is no weakness. When I see tons of food in the studio, for us and for everybody, for me it's as if this stuff was made out of plastic. The idea doesn't even enter my mind that a human being could put that into their mouth. I'm like the animals in the forest. They don't touch what they cannot eat.”

“Chanel is an institution, and you have to treat an institution like a whore – and then you get something out of her”

“I'm very severe with myself and sometimes I miss French cheese, but in your world it's not exactly the same thing.”