Yves Saint Laurent

My classmates could see I was not similar. So they made me their scapegoat. They hit me or locked me in the toilets. During the break, I would take refuge in the chapel, or I would arrange to stay alone in the classroom.

I tell myself that I created the wardrobe of the contemporary woman, that I participated in the transformation of my times.

When I look at the five thousand garments and then all this music hall work, I ask myself how I could have done it all. I was a phenomenon!

I just tried to be an artist in my own metier.

When I was young in the 1960s, all the world watched the youth. Everywhere was the sensation of wanting to break the chains but to do something beautiful. It is my privilege to have beauty always near me.

Basic clothes are for all women, to last for decades and decades. They are the future and will never change. I am persuaded of that.

Poiret made clothes for individual customers, but I wouldn't like to make a dress just for its own sake.

I do not decide that skirts shall be short or long. The shape of the dress itself often dictates the length.

I'm constantly looking for perfection.

I try to only be in agreeable circumstances.

I wanted women to have the same basic wardrobe as a man. Blazer, trousers, and suit. They're so functional. I believed women wanted this and was right.

I hate fashion. I don't have any fun doing it. A show terrifies me.

I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style.

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 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.

A good model can advance fashion by ten years.

Dressing is a way of life.

If men wanted to look good in a skirt, they would need the body of an African. And the colour. A skirt with white, skinny legs. Horrible!

I couldn't love a woman who inspired me to be totally disinterested. If I fell in love with a woman for an artistic reason, or from the point of view of my work, I think it would rob her of something.

I adore America. It's an extraordinary country. A new country.