NEWSWEEK: What is style?

VALENTINO: If you have a great personality you have style. It’s how to move, how to act, how to make your clothes come alive. It’s very boring to see a dress on a beautiful woman who doesn’t have any electricity.

And elegance?

Elegance is to realize that you are not100 percent secure but you really want to be. When a woman says, “I just love this! I don’t want to see anything else! This is what suits me!” sometimes she is wrong. Because to be elegant you need a lot of experience and humility. With arrogance, sometimes you succeed, but it’s not natural.

How have style and elegance changed during your 40-year career?

In the 1960s, women had huge hair, unbelievable makeup, perfect little dresses, stockings, matching shoes with little heels. It was very strict–too strict. In the ’70s, clothes were more free, sexy, casual–I loved that period. The ’80s were a big boom for us, because instead of selling two or three custom-made dresses, ladies bought 12, 14! But the proportions were totally wrong. The ’90s was minimalist, and I have never been big on minimalism. I remember men telling me, “We’re fed up to see our ladies all dressed so they look like nuns!”

And today?

Today is the best fashion moment yet. People can be glamorous and sexy and elegant without being overdressed. Understated but with something special. Understated alone is boring.

Do you think elegance and style still matter in such a consumer and celebrity-obsessed society?

Of course! Haven’t you noticed that in the last five or six years, the movie stars are much more concerned about being well dressed? For the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, all those events, you have no idea how many people–agents, publicists, stylists–take care of those celebrities! Why? Because they love to be elegant and stylish. To them, this is the key of success.

Who are today’s style icons?

Charlize Theron. She is so refined, truly elegant. Nicole Kidman is divine, fantastic. Gwyneth Paltrow. And for men, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. I love when they wear suits with an open shirt, sometimes in different colors.

No politicians?

No, no, unfortunately. But in the business world, I see very elegant men.

Will style and elegance be important in 20 or 30 years?

Always, always. I don’t see a big event happening, like when the Chinese government ordered everyone to wear uniforms. Elegance and style is about pleasing people. It makes the world work better.