Elegance is the balance between PROPORTION, EMOTION & SURPRISE.
I know what women want. They want to be beautiful.
Only wear clothes that make you feel alive.
When I entertain at home, I take time and pleasure in the small details that make all the difference. Entertaining is about giving to people and sharing with them.
I am like a freight train. Working on the details, twisting them and playing with them over the years, but always staying on the same track.
An evening dress that reveals a woman’s ankles while walking is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen.
I am especially grateful that I have been able to keep my own style over the decades, in spite of the many changes that have taken place in the world of fashion and in its business.
There are only three things I can do – make a dress, decorate a house, and entertain people.
My normal life is like being on holiday.
French people are charming, adorable but not extremely generous with foreigners, but they believe in what they do. I feel proud in exchange because what I did in restoration is something I did for La France.
I like things simple.
I put the number 7 on my t-shirt because this is the number of my championships but also because it was the number of Barry Sheene, who was a great hero of mine and a truly great racer.
I have my favourite fashion decade, yes, yes, yes: 60s. It was a sort of little revolution; the clothes were amazing but not too exaggerated.
I have a lot of energy after 2 A.M. I like to sleep in the morning. I have some problems at the start of the day.
I love my beauty. It’s not my fault.
Very few designers today design – it’s very important to be able to do your own sketch on paper and then explain [your vision] to the fabric cutters. Instead, lots of designers drape – it’s the new way.
Even as a young boy, my passion was to design, and I have been very lucky to be able to do what I have loved all my life. There can be few greater gifts than that.
I hope people will say, ‘Mr. Valentino, he did something for fashion, no?
I didn’t like the ’80s at all; it was a vulgar moment of fashion.
I love the 2000s because everyone started to love haute couture.
I am Valentino Rossi. If I stay in MotoGP it is to try to win. When that is not possible it is time to stay at home and work in the garden!
It is a big problem and so I don’t know for sure if I say yes or no to Ferrari.
I always enjoyed myself a lot in pre-school.
Unfortunately, the greatest photographers don’t pay extreme attention to the clothes. If they decide to put a dress in a bathtub or in front of a cow in the countryside with dirt everywhere, well, the dresses come back… ready to be put in the garbage.
I am always locked in my design studio.
