Andre Leon Talley

You cannot live your life in the elitist world of fashion and not step out or you're disconnected. You have to realize that fashion is not the endgame. ”

I will sit in the car on the way to a meeting and just smile. I really mean that. It helps you get through life. If you have nothing to say, smile. Look up at the sky and smile. Just be grateful. ”

I have always admired stylishly confident women who dress with great authority. This lifelong love of elegance began with the humble wardrobe of my late grandmother Mrs. Bennie Frances Davis. ”

It's always great to have things from France at a wedding. It's symbolic of style, of culture, of taste. ”

I think it's important that models be healthy. ”

What's that show? 'TMZ'? They stand there and say, 'I've got this on this person.' The focus on celebrities can be detrimental because people could be thinking of other things, but it's a part of the culture and it's what sells. ”

Money isn't everything, but it is when you start thinking about putting money away for your retirement days. ”

If you're going to be a model, what's going to get you the job on a go-see and makes you stand out, it might not be your lipstick or your portfolio or what you're wearing, it might come from your core being. ”

Look at 'American Idol,' which I don't look at. Those winners haven't become household names except for Jennifer Hudson, and she was a reject. You can't aim to be a household name. You just have to be successful. ”

The happiest moments of my childhood were spent on my grandmother's front porch in Durham, N.C., or at her sister's farmhouse in Orange County, where chickens paraded outside the kitchen's screen door and hams were cured in the smokehouse. ”