Karl Lagerfeld may be one of the most recognizable characters in fashion, but he’s also one of the most quotable. In the past, the creative director of Chanel and Fendi has gifted us with one hilarious gem after another about everything from short men (“Don’t trust them; they are mean, and they want to kill you.”) to tattoos (“It’s like living in a Pucci dress full-time.”).
Recently, the designer sat down with The New York Times at Fendi headquarters in Rome to talk about Haute Fourrure, his furry feline Choupette and prompting Hervé Léger to change his name. In case you missed it, here are the top five takeaways to sink your teeth into.
On selfies: “I don’t do selfies. But other people do, and they all want to do selfies with me. No, no, no. Thank God, Sébastien, my assistant, he’s mean to the people in the street, mean and rude. I’m a nice person.”
On creativity: “The ideas come when you work. I work a lot for the garbage can. I have huge bins next [to me], for whatever I do, 95 percent goes to the bin.”
On retirement: “No. I would die on the spot. Chanel died in the middle of a collection when she was in her nearly 90s. I have time!”
On pulling from the archives: “When people start to think that what they did in the past is perhaps even better than what they do now, they should stop. Lots of my colleagues, they have archives, they look at their dresses like they were Rembrandts! Please, forget about it.”
On working with women: “I’m not crazy to discuss fashion with men. I couldn’t care less about their opinion.”
[via The New York Times]
