Hard shells, soft cores. Couldn’t be a better definition for Karl Leijerfeldwho, behind this hard shell, accentuated by dark sunglasses and high stiff collars, hid a tender heart capable of great impulse, with people who were lucky enough to enter his magic circle: from model Claudia Schiffer, icon of the 90s, Lily-Rose Depp chosen by the stylist in 2015 as the face of Chanel No. 5. These and many other relationships, more or less hidden in the folds of his life and his extraordinary career, he follows book Heaven nownew exciting biography dedicated to the couturier written by William Middleton and released February 28 by HarperCollins.
Four years after the death of the German designer, the former Parisian chief editor of the magazine vvd AND w publishes a highly anticipated and highly anticipated book called “an unconventional biography” in which he highlights the lesser-known and more unexpected aspects of Lagerfeld’s character. On one occasion, the author recounts, Middleton allegedly confessed to him how amazed he was that his public image seemed so harsh, even obnoxious, since in fact he was quite warm, even touching, when you knew him. “It’s better that way than the other way around, Noreplied the couturier. Hence the desire, almost the need for a journalist show through the history of his human and professional relationships the most authentic side of Karlwho has hitherto been more idolized than loved precisely because of this stellar distance, which he apparently established between himself and the world.
On 480 pages of the volume, there is space for conversations with his dear muse Lady Amanda Harlech, with his personal assistant Sebastien Jondeau, with model Ines de la Fressange. And again with publisher Gerhard Steidl and a number of brand executives Chanel, Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld, who, in their words and memory of the designer, form a suggestive mosaic of what Karl’s life was like, beyond looks. In this key example from the life of a designer, the author reveals the true face of a fashion genius, bright, generous and tireless. “I think Carl was extraordinary. The biography is about exemplary lives,” the writer says, noting that “it’s important to have an idea of who he was.” Often portrayed as a ferocious workaholic, the designer was a real party animal in the 1970s – so much so that when the Parisian fashion magazine Façade compiled a list of the leading figures of Parisian nightlife, Lagerfeld took first place.
Many anecdotes are revealed, such as the decision to forge a birth certificate and passport from 1933 to 1938. Middleton actually says that he felt ashamed that he was “born in the year that Hitler began his plan to exterminate the Jewish population. Germany”. “He did not want his name to be associated with this year,” and so the rumor spread that his date of birth was in 1938. The book also deals with the conflict between Lagerfeld and Saint Laurent over Jacques de Bascher, the great love of Lagerfeld’s life, who also had an affair with a French couturier. While it’s undeniable that Pierre Bergé stoked the contrast between the two designers, Middleton recalls that the entire working team of the French fashion house was invited to a wedding dinner between Paloma Picasso and Rafael López-Sanchez hosted by Lagerfeld in 1978.
Anecdotes scattered throughout the book reveal acts of random kindness. One example: In 2014, Lagerfeld flew to Amsterdam for a party for the employees of his namesake brand. He arrived late and headed straight for the kitchen, telling a puzzled CEO, Pier Paolo Righi, why: “Because I wanted to thank everyone who made the meal. And if I had waited until dinner, they would have already left.” However, in 2007, he managed to calm down a very agitated Diane Kruger, who was supposed to preside over the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival. “He just grabbed my hand, held it and said in German, ‘Look how far you’ve come, I’m so proud of you.’ He said it so sweetly – he was clearly trying to cheer me up, ”said Kruger. . “And then he said, ‘Look at us, two little jerks from Germany coming here for the Cannes Film Festival – isn’t that fantastic?’
In the biography, the author, who describes his long reign in the house of Chanel as a “posh and benevolent dictatorship” that nonetheless commanded the loyalty of almost everyone who worked with him, notes that at least a dozen people he interviewed burst into tears when talking about Lagerfeld. , a sign of the special connection that the designer was able to weave with all his employees. Even the choice of name Heaven now – it’s a tribute to Carl, who was known to dislike praising the “good old days” and never expected anything from the future. “I am not interested in offspring. It just doesn’t matter. It won’t give me anything. The main thing today is paradise now,” he told French journalist Augustin Trapenar in 2014. And Middleton confirms: “That’s what Carl was talking about, always fully focused on the present.”
Source: Elle