Das größte Ich der Mode

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: 10. September 2023 · Am Sonntag wäre Karl Lagerfeld 90 Jahre alt geworden. Seit seinem Tod sind viele Bücher erschienen, die sein Werk glänzen lassen – und auch die Schattenseiten seiner Person ausleuchten.

Sie ging ihm über alles. Immer wieder erzählte Karl Lagerfeld von seiner Mutter, die ihren einzigen Sohn forderte und förderte. Und beleidigte: „Wenn du mit mir reden willst, dann streng dich an oder sei ruhig.“ – „Du solltest Vorhänge für deine Nasenlöcher bestellen.“ – „Du siehst aus wie ich, aber nicht so gut.“ Ihre Sprüche haben zu seiner Legendenbildung beigetragen. Denn dass er die Herabsetzungen überstand: War das nicht eine heroische Leistung des Künstlers als junger Mann? Und indem er all die Zitate auch noch locker wiedergab, wurde er zum idealen Erzähler schöner und schauriger Geschichten.

Verhüllt hat er aber zeitlebens, dass Elisabeth Lagerfeld ihm auch modisch ein Vorbild war. Sie kaufte in Hamburg nicht nur in den besten Geschäften ein, schließlich verdiente ihr Mann Otto Lagerfeld als Glücksklee-Gründer viel Geld. Nein, die Liebe zur Mode begann früher und ging tiefer, wie die Autorin Heike Koschyk herausgefunden hat. Lagerfelds Mutter, die 1897 geboren wurde und 1978 in seinem Schloss in der Bretagne starb, wollte die Mode geradezu wissenschaftlich durchdringen. Die junge Frau, die in einem Berliner Modekaufhaus gearbeitet hatte, hielt 1927 in mehreren Radiobeiträgen Vorträge über das Thema. Im „Werag“-Rundfunk (dem WDR-Vorgänger „Westdeutsche Rundfunk AG“) sprach Elisabeth Bahlmann, wie sie da noch hieß, am Samstag, dem 1. Oktober 1927, von 18.30 bis 19 Uhr über „Die Psychologie der Mode“. Am 6. Oktober analysierte sie von 18 bis 18.30 Uhr „Die diesjährige Herbst- und Wintermode“, fortgesetzt in einem zweiten Teil am 8. Oktober. » | Von Alfons Kaiser | Sonntag, 10. September 2023

Inside Karl Lagerfeld’s French Home Filled with Wonderful Objects | Vogue

Dec 1, 2021 • In this episode of Objects of Affection, Lady Amanda Harlech takes Vogue on a tour through Karl Lagerfeld’s treasures ahead of a landmark Sotheby's auction. Watch as Amanda shows everything from Karl's beautiful royal blue upholstered Bruno Paul couch to his replica Adolph Menzel paintings.

Karl Lagerfeld - German Fashion Designer and Icon | DW Documentary

The German-born designer Karl Lagerfeld has died at the age of 85. He was a designer, an artist and a fashion icon. For this sad occasion we recommend a portrait DW made in 2014.

No living fashion designer, let alone a German one, was as celebrated as Karl Lagerfeld. On September 10, 2018 the man with the trademark ponytail and sunglasses celebrated his 85th birthday. From dawn to late morning, Karl Lagerfeld designs for Chanel, Fendi and his own signature brand - a combined workload of up to 15 collections a year. A workhorse who never takes breaks or even a vacation, he is also a photographer and filmmaker. His passion for fashion was awakened by a Dior show in Hamburg in 1950. Four years later, at the age of 17, Karl Lagerfeld was hired as an assistant to Pierre Balmain. Karl Lagerfeld recounts his beginnings in the industry, as well as his upper class background and childhood in Schleswig-Holstein. Karl Lagerfeld was greatly influenced by his mother, whom he describes as his personal style icon. Karl Lagerfeld's caustic comments were notorious and dreaded by those at the receiving end. As an artist, Karl Lagerfeld worked in several media, from pictures and photographs to book illustrations and videos. The documentary of 2015 follows Karl Lagerfeld to exhibition openings, during the hectic preparations for his fashion shows, and at photo shoots in Paris as it seeks to uncover the man behind the mask.

At It Again: Karl Lagerfeld Let's Rip On His World View
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – FASHION: Russian men are 'ugly', Adele is 'a little fat', Greeks are 'corrupt' and the monarchy is 'unnecessary'. Just say what you really mean Karl for crying out loud...

Russian men 'ugly' and said the Greeks and Italians have 'disgusting habits' in an interview with a global newspaper.

The German-born style guru also said Britain's Royal Family was 'totally unnecessary, but pleasant' and described the Queen as 'a more smiley version of her grandmother'.

Lagerfeld - who is notorious for his controversial public outbursts - made the remarks as guest editor of global free newspaper Metro (not to be confused with the UK paper of the same title).

Asked for his views on female pop stars, the 78-year-old said: "The thing at the moment is Adele. She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice.

"Lana del Rey is not bad at all. She looks very much like a modern-time singer. In her photos she is beautiful. Is she a construct with all her implants?"

Then quizzed over his views on Russia, he replied: "If I was a woman in Russia I would be a lesbian, as the men are very ugly.

"There are a few handsome ones, like Naomi Campbell's boyfriend, but there you see the most beautiful women and the most horrible men."

And probed over his opinion on the Greek debt crisis, he answered: "Greece needs to work on a cleaner image. It's a big problem, as they have this reputation of being so corrupt.

"You can't be sure the money will go where it's supposed to go. Nobody wants Greece to disappear, but they have really disgusting habits. Italy as well."

And he said of the Queen: "She looks a little bit like her grandmother - a more smiley version.

"In terms of what she wears, she's come into herself a little bit more - whatever that is." Read on and comment » | Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Style: Karl Lagerfeld: In His Own Words

A Whiff of Coco Chanel
Photo of Coco Chanel in 1936 courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: Coco's time-locked Paris apartment provides Celia Walden with a rare glimpse of the treasures that tell of a life of love and loss

Mademoiselle Chanel is not at home but I am sure that her ghost, severe in a black suit with an angry slash of red lipstick, is present amid a haze of cigarette smoke and her signature No5 scent.

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel's private apartment, at 31 rue Cambon, Paris, is a source of wonder that has been preserved exactly as the designer left it when she died in 1971. It is closed to the public but, after months of supplication, the fashion house granted me a rare visit.

The building, bought by Chanel in 1920, still houses the ground-floor shop, the haute couture workrooms in the attic (where 100 seamstresses still work entirely by hand), and what is now Karl Lagerfeld's study. Among the labyrinth of rooms, half-way up the Art Deco stairs that run like a spine through the 18th century building, is the apartment, which Coco called her "nest".

It was in these three small rooms that Coco transformed women's wardrobes. Here, she dreamed up "the new uniform of modern women", as French Vogue christened it (she dispensed with restrictive corsets and fabrics, favouring more relaxed and practical designs), and numerous classics that still enchant today - the little black dresses, two-tone pumps, bouclé suits and quilted shoulder bags.

After Coco died in her sleep at the age of 87, the brand - and rue Cambon - languished until 1983, when Lagerfeld was hired by the Wertheimers (who own Chanel) to rejuvenate it. On the day of my visit, Lagerfeld is tearing around Paris preparing for this week's ready-to-wear shows. But inside Coco's apartment there is a mausoleum-like tranquillity. I am not surprised to hear that Lagerfeld often drops in to seek inspiration. A whiff of Chanel No31 >>>

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