Hubert de Givenchy Quotes

Balenciaga taught me everything I know. He taught me to care for the details, that it was not necessary to sew on a button where it had no use or to add a flower to make a dress beautiful… no unnecessary detail.

I don’t think I am avant-garde. I made a lot of creations and created harmony with my fabrics, but I was not like Balenciaga, for example, although he was, of course, a great inspiration.

The little black dress is the hardest thing to realize because you must keep it simple.

If fashion is good, it has no epoch.

I dreamed of fashion as a little boy.

Fabric is the most extraordinary thing; it has life. You must respect the fabric.

I’ve stopped making frocks, but not making discoveries.

Clients become very attached to the fitter who they feel understands them.

I had the fortune to evolve at a time when fashion was very important, and women dressed themselves very well. A woman who dressed very well also had a husband who would have beautiful collections of art and decorative objects.

Encouragement helps you to go one step more, become better.

I had the fortune to evolve at a time when fashion was very important, and women dressed themselves very well. A woman who dressed very well also had a husband who would have beautiful collections of art and decorative objects.

As a student, I was more gifted in history and geography. Things like arithmetic were not my strength.

Mine is one of the most beautiful professions in fashion: making others happy with an idea… I am happy because I did the job I dreamt of as a child.

Balenciaga was my religion. Since I’m a believer, for me, there’s Balenciaga, and the good Lord.

When you see the best of the best – when you see a Matisse or a Picasso – what interests you is the creativity and harmony.

To change just because of change, that is not my idea at all.

Life is like a book: one has to know when to turn the page.

If I had to start over, I’ll do the same thing: street clothes are the future; the client can choose two or three things and combine them as she wants.

Balenciaga was my religion. Since I’m a believer, for me, there’s Balenciaga, and the good Lord.

It’s the most beautiful job in the world to give happiness to people.

To be a couture designer is not only to create dresses but to adapt your line to your private customers. It is why couture is expensive. You are like a doctor.

I think when you sell your company and are no longer the master of driving it, it’s quite difficult.

Mine is one of the most beautiful professions in fashion: making others happy with an idea… I am happy because I did the job I dreamt of as a child.

It’s a fabulous thing to give life to fabric, to make something move well, the harmony of colour.

It gives you a good feeling. Each year, you rediscover in a garden the magic of life. A flower arrives, and it is a miracle. The leaves fall in the autumn, and it looks fantastic. There is a tenderness about a garden, and you can’t help but be sensitive to that.

My grandmother had a cupboard where she kept her collections and textile samples of all sorts of things. When I had good grades, I could take out one piece of work to look at.

I didn’t do any designs for ‘My Fair Lady.’

As time passes, we like to simplify our lives.

I had this creativity always with this will for perfection, and I always said to myself, ‘Look for what’s best.’ ‘That’s your goal, your driving principle.’

Each of my garments is something special in itself. You give all your energy to each piece, to each creation, and I have no favourite. I love all of them equally.

You work around a body and adapt the clothes to your own customer, and this is the interesting part. This is why the haute couture exists: because in ready-to-wear, you have not too much fitting.

The little black dress is the hardest thing to realize because you must keep it simple.

I’ve stopped making frocks, but not making discoveries.

American and Italian women stimulate designers to do new things.

I didn’t do any designs for ‘My Fair Lady.’

Of course everyone dreams of living in the 17th or the 18th century because of the costumes, but there were so many incommodities.

It is important to work. It is important for my mind.

A piece of material has a life. You must never upset it if you want the material to speak.

It was always my dream to be a dress designer, and my mother accepted that decision.

When I am designing, I keep in mind more the American woman than the French woman.

Clients become very attached to the fitter who they feel understands them.

To have lived your dream is very rare in life. I am a very happy man. I have been so fortunate.

People say I am a classic designer. I don’t try to be classic, but I do try to be simple and elegant.

It gives you a good feeling. Each year, you rediscover in a garden the magic of life. A flower arrives, and it is a miracle. The leaves fall in the autumn, and it looks fantastic. There is a tenderness about a garden, and you can’t help but be sensitive to that.

Life is like a book: one has to know when to turn the page.

In the early ’50s, it was still the time of Christian Dior‘s New Look. Every dress was big and important, and I thought I must do something completely different. Women needed something for daytime that was wearable.

I love to dance, and I love to see people dance. It is good exercise. It gives you a kind of energy.

American and Italian women stimulate designers to do new things.

In the early ’50s, it was still the time of Christian Dior‘s New Look. Every dress was big and important, and I thought I must do something completely different. Women needed something for daytime that was wearable.

If you want to express yourself, it is difficult to be by yourself. You must have people around you who understand the same music. It is like being the chef d’orchestra. They need you, but you need them desperately.