“I felt most beautiful on the red carpet in Givenchy's sheer lace dress...” — Joan Smalls Quote

“I felt most beautiful on the red carpet in Givenchy's sheer lace dress at a dinner hosted by Givenchy in honor of Marina Abramovich at the closing of her Museum of Modern Art retrospective, 'The Artist is Present', in 2010. It was the first time I had been dressed for an event, and everybody just fell in love with the dress.”

“I still get butterflies when I'm doing a runway show. The music starts, you're wearing these gorgeous clothes and your nervous about your high heels, if your shoes are going to break, if your going to slip or do something wrong.”

“An artist makes a painting, and nobody bugs him or her about it. It's just you and your painting. To me, that's the way it should be with film as well.”

“That was a wonderful period in my life. I mean, I didn't become an artist, but somebody let me do something I loved. What a luxury, to do something you love to do.”

“Becoming an artist is not empirical; it's not about hard work. You have to put the work in, but that doesn't mean you're going to make it.”