Karl

With the Met Gala fresh on fashions’ mind, I thought it would only be natural to discuss the renowned Karl Lagerfeld and his incredible genius.  

As I recently posted on Instagram:

Karl certainly was one of a kind. Brilliant, hysterically amusing, bitterly honest, a sincere gentleman and an overall inspiring human. From shoots in Paris at 3am, quick sketches he made of me and tossed my way casually, backstage moments and whispers, chats about his childhood struggles, personal advice over the years and amazing shopping sprees through Chanel, Karl left a huge mark on me. We created amazing images for @chanel & @fendi and made incredible memories at his home in Biarritz where he taught me about French wine, books and French antiques. We drove around the seaside (with him at the wheel) in his giant hummer as he brought us shopping for the finest linens (which I still have) and antiques. He bought me a trip home on the Concorde because it upset him that I hadn’t flown on it yet. Karl never lost an opportunity to show how much he loved and appreciated the world, and the world certainly loved and appreciated him. 

This is just a brief summary of the time I spent with this magnificent man.  Karl, although bigger than a shining light, was also an incredibly deep, kind and thoughtful man.  As those who knew him know, Karl was a hard worker like none other.  Most of the shoots I did with him were in the middle of the night as Karl never stopped working.  Literally.  I remember one particular job I did with him.  I had worked all day in New York, taken the red eye to work the following day in Paris for Vogue and then had been booked to work with Karl that evening at his bibliotheque, Librairie 7L. 

Feeling even a tad stupid asking my agent at the time if they were serious, I knew the answer before I asked it.  Of course, I knew there was no way I could argue that I had not slept and had been working back to back jobs because, clearly he had been as well.  When introduced by him to Librairie 7L, he simply stated that he had read every book in here, “several times’ ‘.  I was not shocked when he was to tell me later that of course the same was true for his library in his Paris and Biarritz homes, both complete with equal amounts of literature to Librairie 7L.  

Karl was truly interested in learning about the people he was with and what helped form them.   Working with Karl was quite truly like working with a great genius, who I also looked up to and felt comforted by, as one would a grandparent.  The Costume institute honoring him is as natural as Karl was a work of art himself.