Diane Kruger in Glamour March 2011

Diane Kruger: I dressed down?

Glamour: Cardigan, button-down shirt, ballet flats.

Diane Kruger: What can I say? I don’t know about style. I know about my personal style.

Glamour:But you’ve had exposure to a certain level of design. It’s one thing to do a runway show. But Karl Lagerfeld and Francisco Costa are your friends.

Diane Kruger: I truly, genuinely like clothes. Making them is an art form, and wearing them is a form of self-expression. I find it very emotional because I can remember moments in my life—my mood, how I felt—through these clothes.

Glamour: But it is fun to splurge sometimes.

Diane Kruger: I couldn’t agree more! The biggest fashion purchase I ever made I thought about for six years. I’m not kidding. All my life I wanted to own an Hermès Constance bag, and when I signed with Calvin Klein, I decided this was the time that I could afford it. I truly broke a sweat when I paid for it.

More after the jump!

Glamour: What’s your cheap thrill for clothes?

Diane Kruger: I go to Urban Outfitters. Or Forever 21—I think it’s cool.

Glamour: You really don’t have a stylist?

Diane Kruger: No.

Glamour: Really, truly?

Diane Kruger: Really, truly, no. Only for the Oscars or something like that, or a promotional tour for a movie when I’m traveling for six weeks and I need 25 outfits just for press days and 10 premieres. But I will tell them what I want.

Glamour: Let’s talk about Josh’s style. He has kicked up his look since he’s been with you, don’t you think?

Diane Kruger: For sure. When you are in a relationship, you want the other person to appreciate the things you like. It sounds superficial, but it’s nice.

Glamour: Did you restyle him? Did you say, “Josh, pull it together”?

Diane Kruger: We go shopping. But he likes it. I definitely wasn’t fond of these blue sneakers that he wore all the time for about a year and a half.

Glamour: Gone?

Diane Kruger: No. They’re weekend shoes. [Laughs.] He was a hoarder, which most men are, I think. He had sneakers from when he was 15.

Glamour: You made Josh throw out his favorite stuff from when he was 15?

Diane Kruger: Well, yes. It didn’t fit him anymore. [Laughs.] The truth is, if you just tell men, “Oh, this looks really good on you,” they find what to wear.

Glamour: Now let’s talk about life. You’ve had a lot of living behind you at just 34. It’s kind of remarkable. Did you always want to act?

Diane Kruger: I wanted to be onstage. I’m from a small village [in Germany], and it never occurred to me that you could actually make a living performing. It was a hobby. I always thought you had to live in Hollywood. So the urge really came later, when I became a model.

Glamour: You left home at 15, 16?

Diane Kruger: I started modeling part-time; I was 15. My mom said, “You can take a year off from school and go to Paris.” I wanted to see the world.

Glamour: You’ve talked before about your father and how he had a drinking problem. How did that affect your family?

Diane Kruger: My mother, brother and I left [together] when I was 13. It was very difficult, and certainly financially that wasn’t easy on my mother…. Ballet kept me very disciplined—I had a passion. But I also made a lot of boys pay for my father’s behavior.

Glamour: Because you were angry?

Diane Kruger: I was never able to be tied down. I’m still very independent. Looking back, I made mistakes.

Glamour: In what sense?

Diane Kruger: I couldn’t accept that they were for real, when they were, more often than not. I would pull back.

Glamour: You were married and divorced quite young. What did you learn from that experience?

Diane Kruger:I was married very young [to French actor and director Guillaume Canet]. We were together seven years. Without sounding pessimistic, I learned that I don’t believe in marriage. I believe in a commitment that you make in your heart. There’s no paper that will make you stay. A guy friend of mine said, and it made a lot of sense, that people should get married at the end of the road, not the beginning.

Glamour: You’ve certainly accomplished a lot already. What would you tell young women whose dreams seem far away?

Diane Kruger: Ask questions. Surround yourself with people who will help you advance. You should be smart enough to know that you don’t know everything. But you have to believe in yourself. I certainly do.

Read the full interview at: http://www.glamour.com/fashion/2011/02/meet-diane-kruger-our-style-icon

Photo Credits: Glamour