Karl Lagerfeld

Portrait by Juergen Teller

portraits by JUERGEN TELLER
interview by OLIVIER ZAHM

 

An interview with Karl Lagerfeld is an artistic performance — an unbroken flow of ideas, stories, jokes, word games, asides, fashion criticism, and good advice. He’s totally honest and he speaks his mind. And he loves to laugh. Of course, he does have the power of his position, and he has been gifted with the confidence to say what he really thinks. He’s always fully present and will talk for as long as stimulating questions are posed to him. But he’ll recoil if you delve too deep.

The most important thing about Karl Lagerfeld is that he’s probably the last real giant of fashion. He’s been intensly involved in the last five incredible decades of fashion history. Yet he only looks to the future — without a trace of sentimental nostalgia.
He works…