The World According to Karl Lagerfeld

Anyone who loves Chanel or fashion, or both will agree that the name Karl Lagerfeld is not a foreign language. After collaborating on different sides of fashion, this Chanel helmer truly established himself in the industry.

Karl Lagerfeld on WWD CEO Summit

The problem with famous people like him in the fashion business is that they are mostly frank, and sometimes brutally frank, that anyone who is not settled on her identity and personal style will have inner-directed confusion. But you can honestly get tons of what there is to learn about fashion from them.

With fame attaches controversies. And Karl has not been an exemption. First, the annoyance he's given to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour in the Milan Fashion Week, to his seemingly indiscreet  statement about Heidi Klum, to his outright comments about Adele's mortal parts, to losing a horrible number of pounds in his weight, to his Siamese cat named Choupette. All these are to be perpetuated and spiced up in a book about a compilation of his most outrageous quotes. It is set for release by 25th of September this year, but available to pre- order now in Amazon.

The World According to Karl Book Cover

The book titled, The World According to Karl or Le Monde Selon Karl, in French will be published by Thames & Hudson in the UK with 50 accompanying illustrations by Charles Ameline. It's a handiwork of Patrick Mauries, Jean-Christophe Napias, and Sandrine Gulbenkian- a privilege which Karl receives for being reputable.

No topic seems to deserve a filter for him- something which undoubtedly will make the book an entertaining piece to read. Something which I don't see as redundancy or plain brandish of his vehemence, but more like a legacy. After all, his trademark white hair and black glasses look and his undeniably faddish collections make his name one of the most interesting people to publish about.

Here are few selections of his sharp-edged-but-somehow-true tongue as published on Vogue:

On unattractive and short people

Life is not a beauty contest, some [ugly people] are great. What I hate is nasty, ugly people. The worst is ugly short men. Women can be short, but for men it is impossible. It is something that they will not forgive in life- they are mean and they want to kill you. 

On his collaboration with H&M and relying less on cost and more on the individual's sense of style

Chic is a kind of mayonnaise, either it tastes, or it doesn't.

On staying healthy 

Vanity is the healthiest thing in life.

On interview etiquette

I had an interview once with a German journalist- some horrible ugly woman. It was in the early days after the communists- maybe a week after- and she wore a yellow sweater that was kind of see through. She had huge tits and a huge black bra, and she said to me: 'It's impolite, remove your glasses.' I said: 'Do I ask you to remove your bra?'

On phones

I send notes. I'm not a chambermaid whom you can  ring at every moment. Today, you know, most people act like they work at a switchboard in a hotel.

On smoking

When I was 14, I wanted to smoke because my mother smoked like mad. I wanted to smoke to look grown-up. But my mother said: 'You shouldn't smoke. Your hands are not that beautiful and that shows when you smoke.'

On Coco Chanel

What I do Coco would have hated. The label has an image and it's up to me to update it. I do what she never did. I had to find my mark. I had to grown from what Chanel was to what it should be, could be, what it had been to something else.

On his distaste for tattoos

I think tattoos are horrible. It's like living in a Pucci dress full-time. If you're young and tight, maybe it's ok, but...

I'm a fool for traditional box jackets so it's obvious that I'm his fan, too.






Reference:
vogue (dot) co (dot) uk

Photo Credits:
wwd (dot) com
vogue (dot) co (dot) uk