Carine Roitfeld

If Caravaggio was a photographer today, I would love to work with him. I love his dark vision - I have a dark vision.

'Vogue' is a very beautiful magazine, an institution, and I learned so much working there.

You can't put yourself into competition with a magazine like 'Vogue.' You have to create something new, something different.

I'm not the girl next door.

For me, fashion is not about reality.

I always try to be nice to the paparazzi because finally, maybe one day, they won't ask for me, and I will regret it.

Karl Lagerfeld looks very tough because of the glasses, and he has all these rings and the leather gloves, and he's so smart. But he's a very nice person... when he comes into a room or studio, he is going to say hello to each person, and the same when he leaves.

To be a good model, you have to be very smart.

We are very lucky to work in fashion and not work in a hospital or something where the biggest deal we come across is perhaps the length of a skirt.

Working with Barneys, and choosing the looks, I was thinking about whether a real woman would buy this outfit and feel beautiful and comfortable.

Thinking differently is my strength.

You don't choose your public; your public chooses you.

I am very lucky in that I can eat what I want and don't have to follow any special diet.

French 'Vogue' was always a photographer's magazine.

In my 10 years, I never put a girl that was too skinny in French 'Vogue.'

I don't think the woman in French 'Vogue' was an object. She was always a real woman.

A lot of rumours on the Internet are wrong and horrible.

It is good to be in front of the lens to appreciate more being behind the lens.

At the start, I had no idea to go into fashion, because I thought people would think I was stupid. I don't worry about those things anymore.

When everything is good, maybe I think it's the time to do something else.

Blogs are quite a new development - now, everyone wants to know you, everyone wants to know everything about you. And you can build a following that way. In a way, it's a good thing if you want to create a buzz around yourself.

Fashion's about extravagance, and everyone needs a bit of that.

There are so many magazines and so many editors out there that you have to be different.

I definitely want to work on a project with young designers, not just French but international.

I was never conscious that I was becoming an icon or I'm not an icon, because my family, my kids, my husband keep me down-to-earth.

When Tom Ford asked me to consult for Gucci, I had never consulted in my life. I didn't know what consulting was, and look, we made something amazing.

I'm not a Facebook girl. Even though there is a fake Facebook with my name, it's not me. I'm not on Twitter; it's not me.

Sometimes pressure can be good, and it gives you a lot of energy to do something.

'Grandmother' doesn't mean that you have gray hair and you retire and stay home cooking cakes for your grandchildren.

If you are a reader of 'Harper's Bazaar,' to me, you are a woman who loves fashion, but not just fashion; you love fashion, you love travel, you love art, you love music.

I think the 'Harpers Bazaar' woman is not a fashion victim; she understands fashion but is not a victim, you know.

My father was very chic. My mum was always encouraging me. Some parents would say, 'Why don't you be a lawyer, a doctor, or something more important?' They never said that.

I started as a writer for magazines, and soon they asked me to illustrate my stories. I started from the bottom of the bottom. And I climbed the stairs, one by one.

When you're writing, you're on your own, and I like to work as a team.

'Vogue' is a very specific world. You are 'Vogue,' or not 'Vogue.'

I think it is good when something can stay interesting for a long time. It's not just a trend for one month.

What is chic is just to be perfect, like magical, no?

I miss my parents. But still, my granddaughter, my daughter, my grandma, you know, so it's very important for me. You lost your parents, but a new baby comes. It's like the cycle of fashion.

People say I look like my father. My son is very much like him.

A magazine is not just one person. And a fashion shoot is the same!

I'm not a superhero - I'm a super worker!

I do think fashion is fun! Much more than people think.

I know that people in fashion and people in general hate to be filmed.

Yes, I can speak a bit and I can read and write in Russian. I learned it from my grandmother who raised me with all the Russian fairytales.

The Russians are extreme people: they are generous but crazy at the same time. They always have something to say, and I really like that.

I'm not a nostalgic person: I never look back; I always forget.

When you're getting old, obviously you try to put on the best cream, you have massages, you try to stay beautiful, but I think wrinkles can sometimes be more beautiful than having none.

Paris is mostly retired people - I love it, and it's a beautiful city, but it's quite slow.

Fashion shows used to be more crazy. Now they've become a bit too serious.

It's very difficult for designers today. How can someone produce so many shows? Now the minimum is four a year.