Celine Dion Has Never Borrowed Clothes From Designers for Free: ‘It’s a Form of Respect’

Celine Dion revealed that she refuses to borrow clothing from designers without paying for them herself first.

“I have always bought everything myself,” she told Vogue France in an April 22 interview. “I didn’t want to borrow. It’s a form of respect. People pay to come and hear me sing, so I pay to buy myself clothes by designers.”

The singer explained that this personal policy is partially due to her modest upbringing. “All my life, my mother mended my tights, sweaters, coats and mittens, all my little things for winter,” she told the publication. “I was very lucky, because I had 13 brothers and sisters, and I got everyone’s hand-me-downs.”

The 56-year-old Grammy winner went on to say that she has worked hard for everything she has purchased in her life — not just designer clothing, but also houses for herself and her family members.

As Dion achieved more success in her career, she started to get invited to fashion shows. One particular Karl Lagerfeld show stands out in her memory.

“[Lagerfeld] looked at me and said, ‘You remind me of La Callas,’” Dion told Vogue France, referring to the mid-twentieth century Greek-American soprano singer Maria Callas. “I treated myself to a Lagerfeld jacket in the same way that people buy themselves diamonds,” she added.

In the same interview, Dion also revealed how she has been coping since her 2022 diagnosis with stiff person syndrome, a rare autoimmune neurological disorder that causes muscle stiffness and spasms.

“I haven’t beat the disease, as it’s still within me and always will be. I hope that we’ll find a miracle, a way to cure it with scientific research, but for now I have to learn to live with it,” she said, adding, “At the beginning I would ask myself: why me? How did this happen? What have I done? Is this my fault? Life doesn’t give you any answers.”