Karl Lagerfeld
Talented, yes. Cultured, yes. Outspoken, absolutely. We all know Karl Lagerfeld is a force to be reckoned with in the fashion world. As the genius behind the rejuvenation of the house of Chanel, Lagerfeld has single handedly brought the iconic brand into the modern world without losing any of it’s classic charm. Although most agree that he’s incredibly talented, he has also found many ways to ruffle quite a few feathers with his words. The trilingual (German, French and Italian) designer has quite a way with words that only he can get away with. From fellow designers to ex-muses, supermodels, royals and his mother, no one and no fad is safe from the brutally honest opinions of Monsieur Lagerfeld. We’ve compiled some of the 77 year old’s most outrageous quotes for your Friday viewing pleasure.
On his mother…
“I love hats, in a way, but when I was a child, I’d wear Tyrolean hats, and my mother – I was something like eight – said to me, ‘You shouldn’t wear hats. You look like an old dyke…’ Do you say such things to children? She was quite funny, no?”
On not having children…
“It would have been difficult to have an ugly daughter.”
On the Middleton sisters…
“Kate Middleton has a nice silhouette and she is the right girl for that boy, I like that kind of woman, I like romantic beauties. On the other hand, her sister struggles. I don’t like the sister’s face. She should only show her back.”
On style at the royal wedding…
“This was not a collection, this was the choices of this kind of woman for this kind of ceremony: the bad proportions, the ugly hats, the short skirts on fat legs”
On Russians…
“If I was a woman in Russia I would be a lesbian, as the men are very ugly. There are a few handsome ones, like Naomi Campbell’s boyfriend, but there you see the most beautiful women and the most horrible men.”
In spite of his outspoken nature, the designer always seems to be in on the joke
On fellow German and supermodel Heidi Klum…
“I don’t know Heidi Klum, she was never known in France. Claudia Schiffer also doesn’t know who she is.”
On Ines de la Fressange, his former muse…
“I wish her all the luck in the world, just so long as I don’t have to see her anymore or hear her spoken about.”
On designer, Yves Saint Laurent in 1984…
‘He is very middle-of-the-road French-very pied-noir, very provincial.”
On Lana del Rey…
“Is she a construct with all her implants?”
On women who complain about seeing thin models in fashion magazines…
“They are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television, saying that thin models are ugly.”
On the Queen of England…
“She looks a little bit like her grandmother– a more smiley version. In terms of what she wears, she’s come into herself a little bit more– whatever that is.”
On being working-class…
“I’m a working-class person, working with class.”
On meetings…
“I don’t do meetings.”
On office work…
“There’s something boring about people who have to go to an office for a living.”
On losing all that weight…
“Some people would like me to be round again.”
On working so much…
“Why should I stop working? If I do, I’ll die and it’ll all be finished.”
On tattoos…
“I think tattoos are horrible. It’s like living in a Pucci dress full-time.”
Finally, on not taking his words so seriously…
“Everything I say is a joke. I am a joke myself.”