I’ve been always inspired and intrigued by Karl Lagerfeld and of course by his work. Both of them appear to be timeless.
Today (even if it appeared in 2007) I watched “Lagerfeld Confidential”, the documentary featuring some episodes of the famous designer’s life, mostly of his professional one. And before driving to the conclusions, I have to say I have always thought that even if a genius, he was unfriendly and alone, not in a good way.
Today I have discovered Karl Lagerfeld as I didn’t know him before - alive, open, funny… and alone, but this time, in a good way, that is fulfilled.
Today I understood why his work and him, not only appear to be timeless, but they truly are. Karl Lagerfeld embraces change and lets things go. He has no roots and he is not attached to anything. He just is.
In order to get acquainted with more of his opinions, enjoy this interview.
P.S. Needless to say, those who want to be great at what they do, can make a step further by studying and understanding people they admire most in their domain. And Karl Lagerfeld is definitely a fashion designer to be studied.
This is how Rodolphe Marconi called his film featuring Karl Lagerfeld. Here’s a short preview… and I can’t wait to buy it and see it.
« This film is something not real : It’s something not real about reality. And I think Rodolphe got it in a very modern pointing way. » Karl Lagerfeld
Synopsis:
Fascinated by the “man behind the sunglasses”, Rodolphe Marconi has been contemplating a documentary about Karl Lagerfeld for over ten years. With the groundbreaking feature film, “Lagerfeld Confidential”, Rodolphe Marconi allows us to see beyond the “Karl mystery”. Karl Lagerfeld himself becomes fully involved in the project, entrusting the director with his everyday life. For the first time Karl Lagerfeld has agreed to let someone create an artwork on his every day life and to trust in the director. Until today there is no authorised biography existing and the memories who Karl Lagerfeld would compose stay perfectly confidential. Rodolphe Marconi immediately started to work after their first meeting. He then associated with Gregory Bernard and the company REALITISM FILMS to finance the project, exclusively due to private investors. After three years of work, and over three hundred hours of footage, Rodolphe Marconi discloses the daily life of the star through his personal lens as a filmmaker. The spectator gains a philosophical insight into his personal history and his obsessions: designing a dress in private, giving public interviews, his time and work as a photographer, his collection of art books, Chanel, Fendi, Lagerfeld Gallery (now “Karl Lagerfeld” brand), the most beautiful women in the world, actresses and stars from around the world. The camera of Rodolphe Marconi approaches a hyperactive lifestyle in the closest way. And we discover between the lines the hidden moments of solitude, sorrow, reading, profoundness. The director discovers an intellectual insomniac with a thirst for literature, films and paintings, a fan of Art Deco and contemporary art; a lover of aesthetics in the extreme as well as luxury. Karl Lagerfeld reveals his caracter : affectionate and authoritarian, humerous, with a longing for farces and make someone laugh, to surprise and to appear always there where you would’t expect him to be. Rodolphe Marconi discovers the shattering moments of a life, a solitary man hurt by the death of the person beloved, a man who however doesn’t bear the nostalgia : « If life was really better before, there would be no reason now to continue ».
A new short movie created by Karl Lagerfeld showcases the story of the Coco’s unrealized dream to visit Shanghai. One have to say from the beginning that the story is fiction. No one does certainly know if Chanel really had this dream, it’s sure however that her Rue de Cambon apartment was furnished with huge Coromandel screens and she loved Chinese art. We can also guess certain similarities between the classic Chanel tweed jacket and the Chinese Mao jacket.
Perhaps Karl Lagerfeld, the couturier who keeps Coco Chanel’s fashion dream alive, is the most able to reveal what she would have done if she really made this trip. So, as you’ll see in the movie, he supposes that in Shanghai she would have swapped her jacket for a Mao jacket, would have visited gambling clubs with Duchess of Windsor, she would have visited Marlene Dietrich in cabaret, she would have taken tea with the emperor and would have traveled with the Shanghai Express. Even if the film action is nothing but fantasy, I’m quite sure that the way Coco Chanel acts, speaks, reacts in this movie is very close to the real character’s way of being.
I’m sharing this with you, because I consider Coco Chanel to be a great inspiration for every person who loves or who creates fashion. She’s part of the history of fashion, actually…
