In an exclusive excerpt from his book 'Paradise Now,' author William Middleton recalls his adventures with Karl Lagerfeld—and sheds light on the designer’s famous falling-out with Yves Saint Laurent.
author William Middleton, a formereditor, recalls his adventures with Lagerfeld—and sheds light on the designer’s famous falling-out with Yves Saint Laurent.After being named artistic director of Chanel, in January 1983, Lagerfeld was captured by Helmut Newton on the mirrored staircase at 31 Rue Cambon, where Gabrielle Chanel herself once perched.
A model walked out from behind a screen in the corner of the room, wearing one of those perfect Chanel suits. This one was black wool, with a nipped waist, strong shoulders, and skirt length just above the knee. Karl opened the sketch pad that was always on the top of his desk and drew a quick outline of the silhouette. With just a few strokes, he was able to convey the newest line. He tore off the page and gave it to me. That season, he explained, would be practically all black.
In the spring of 1996, I flew with him in his Falcon 50 jet to Hamburg to do a story on a neoclassical house he had bought, like a modernist Greek temple, in the same neighborhood where he had been born. Karl photographed that story, as well. For the trip to Hamburg, we were to meet at the private airport of Le Bourget, north of Paris.
Outside the headquarters of the couturier Pierre Balmain, who had hired Lagerfeld as an assistant on the night of the young designer’s victory in the Woolmark Prize competition in 1954.Posing for a portrait with model Kristen McMenamy at the Chanel studio, January 1993.For Karl, we photographed him in the courtyard of Chanel on the Rue Cambon, in the back seat of his Volvo, with the model of the moment, Kristen McMenamy.
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