Sunglasses are like eyeshadow. They make everything look younger and prettier.

Fashion Week hoo-ha is upon us again, with New York in full swing and London about to be invaded by fashionistas this weekend.

Yesterday our focus was on the lovely Elsa Schiaparelli. Coincidentally sharing her birthday - and it was his 80th - was her fellow couturier the ever-scathing Karl Lagerfeld.

The man is as well known for his quotable comments as for his couture, so here is a selection:

• "I am basically the most superficial person in the world."
• "When I was a child I asked my mother what homosexuality was about and she said - and this was 100 years ago in Germany and she was very open-minded - 'It's like hair color. It's nothing. Some people are blond and some people have dark hair. It's not a subject.' This was a very healthy attitude."
• "Gratitude is a sticky feeling."
• "Coming out after a show is good discipline for me because I have to watch out that I don't look like an old garden gnome next to all these 20-year-old models."
• "Elegance has nothing to do with fashion."
• "I'm sorry. What I say is only applicable as I am saying it."
• "I think tattoos are horrible. It's like living in a Pucci dress full-time."
• "I hate the word 'cheap'. People are cheap. Clothing is either expensive or inexpensive."
• "I really love animals, particularly when they are stuffed with cotton or polyester. That way you can guarantee that they won't bite, won't claw, won't smell bad and make your things dirty."
• "I am made of total egoism."
• "My job is to bring out in people what they wouldn't dare do themselves."
• "Sunglasses are like eyeshadow. They make everything look younger and prettier."
• "I avoid thinking. I want to have an easy life without problems."
• "You cannot take yourself too seriously."

But why have just one Karl Lagerfeld, when you can have two?

Karl Lagerfeld - Face to Face

Karl Otto Lagerfeld (née Lagerfeldt, born 10th September 1933)