Kaiser Chief

Kaiser Chief

Stylist meets fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld

Stylist’s Morag Paterson comes face to face with fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld to talk caviar, couture and amour at home in Paris.

For every woman who works in fashion there is one man you dream of interviewing: Karl Lagerfeld. The idea of probing the mind of my childhood icon, the man whose influence on global fashion spans six decades, is the stuff dreams are made of. From his visionary imagination to his monochromatic trademark look – low silver-grey ponytail, black sunglasses, white high-collared shirt, black blazer, black straight-leg trousers and fingerless leather gloves – he is as famous as the interlocking Cs of Chanel and personifies the word “fashion”. The commercial power of having his name attached to a product is invaluable and his face is so iconic that it now graces the side of limited edition Diet Coke bottles. His latest collaboration is a project with Magnum ice cream, and typically, Karl has done nothing short of designing a hotel suite using 10.5 tonnes of chocolate (see picture, below).

ABOVE: Karl Lagerfeld created the Magnum Chocolate Suite to celebrate the launch of Magnum Ecuador and Ghana, made with Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa beans. For more info go to www.facebook.com/magnum.

No other designer is comparable, in fact no-one could have retained Coco’s legacy with his prowess. He is also one of the industry’s most dedicated talents – as well as s/s and a/w Chanel collections, he produces two annual cruise collections, two haute couture collections, along with his own lines, Karl Lagerfeld and K Karl Lagerfeld. So when I received the invite to lunch with him in his home city of Paris, it felt like my big fashion moment had arrived.

From the instant ‘The Kaiser’ enters the huge hotel suite in La Réserve hotel – with his two longserving female PRs, both dressed in head-to-toe monochrome, and an extremely beautiful bodyguard – the atmosphere shifted instantly, but not in the way you might imagine. Over a three-course meal of smoked salmon, white fish, and pineapple and ice cream (although notably no ice cream for Karl, who famously lost over 90lbs with the sole ambition of fitting into Dior Homme), Karl chatted constantly, spilling secrets about his childhood aspiration to have a chauffeur-driven car and how he never has meetings with the directors of Chanel: “I only do what I want to do.” But he’s not without his demands, of course. Dressed in his signature ensemble, Karl is presented with a crystal goblet of Diet Coke on a silver tray on his arrival – it’s the only thing he drinks and the only way he’ll drink it. Halfway through lunch he opens a beautifully intricate pillbox and knocks back a very large handful.

But as this is the Paris issue, what I really wanted to hear about was Karl Lagerfeld’s Paris. “In Paris I walk in the streets like peasants walk in the village where they are born. There is something in the air,” he says, warming to his favourite topic. “Who doesn’t love Paris? You cannot compare it to any other city. Don’t ask me why but that is the way it is. I have houses in the south of France, Vermont and Monte Carlo but I never go there. I like houses for [the sake of] having houses, but in Paris I am most at ease.”

"Karl is presented with a crystal goblet of Diet Coke on a silver tray on his arrival – it’s the only thing he drinks and the only way he’ll drink it"

District-wise he rarely ventures out of his comfort zone. “I have spent all my life in the 6th [Saint-Germain] and 7th [home to the Eiffel Tower]. I am a stranger in any other area. For me, this is my Paris – the rest is a foreign country. I go to the other areas for work, but I have never lived anywhere else in my life, and never will.” I can tell he is serious. Wisely, he has chosen well as the area is also his top romantic destination. “I never knew romance in another place and I think it is still the most romantic place in the world.” His favourite place to go for a walk? “I love to walk in the streets but for me it is difficult, however when I do I walk along Rue Des Saints-Pères, Rue Bonaparte and Boulevard Saint-Germain.” And the perfect place to propose? (Yes, I asked him this and yes, he blushed and wriggled uncomfortably in his chair). “It depends on the budget and the taste of the people but for me, the Left Bank is best as there are well-kept, intimate hotels there.”

In terms of food, seafood is his indulgent delicacy. “I love to go to La Maison Du Caviar because they have the best caviar in the world – there is nothing like it and I have been going since I was 16 or 17. I also like the atmosphere and food in Café De Flore [a haunt of Picasso], especially their dish called L’Assiette Nordique (smoked Norwegian salmon served with quiche).”

Asides from owning several homes and a jet (he once famously said that he will never fly commercially), he is very keen for me to perceive him as a modest man. “I am a decent person. I live in Paris so don’t go to hotels.” But for a place to stay in the city, “I like the location of The Ritz but the interior is horrible and old.” He is never one to mince his words. “The owner should sell it or redo it because other hotels are more impeccable, but I do like where it is situated.”

"Who doesn’t love Paris? You cannot compare it to any other city. Don’t ask me why but that is the way it is."

Not far from this, according to Karl, are the late night hangouts of beautiful Parisians. “For the moment they go to Raspoutine and the trendy people go to Club Le Baron and Le Montana.” Karl used to frequent them at Fashion Week but nowadays he leads a quieter private life. “I tend not to go to public places, I go to people’s houses. I am not a cocktail party person and I have no need, no want, as I have already done a lot of this in my life.”

Shopping on the other hand is something he is very good at and he rattles off his go-to shops without being prompted. “My favourite shop is Colette on Rue Saint-Honoré. For jewellery I go to Lydia Courteille on Rue Saint-Honoré and for books Galignani on Rue De Rivoli, and my own bookshop, 7L on Rue De Lille. For clothes I shop at Dior Homme and I buy my paper at Sennelier. It is next door to where I live – it is the most famous place for paper, pencils, stationery. I am a paper freak!”

And with that said, the interview has come to an end. As I stand to leave, he grabs my arm and whispers, “One should never have any regrets in life or have a negative attitude or you will never be happy.” Wise words from Mr Fashion.