L'OFFICIEL Commemorates Karl Lagerfeld With Archival Interview and Photographs
In honor of the 2023 Met Gala, L'OFFICIEL has repurposed an archived interview with Karl Lagerfeld, where he discusses everything from film to poetry to fashion.
Photography KARL LAGERFELD
Styling VANESSA BELLUGEON
Drawings by ELIE TOP
Interview by DAPHNÉ HÉZARD
Although Karl Lagerfeld was a designer at heart, he occasionally dabbled with creative direction and photography. In 2013, Lagerfeld took on the role as photographer for the 979th issue of L'OFFICIEL Paris, a tribute issue to the French poet Jean Cocteau, under the special creative direction of Vincent Darré. The editorial features the protagonists of Opium, a film about Cocteau's life directed by Arielle Dombasle Grégoire Colin. Lagerfeld was also interviewed for the issue, talking about all of the cultural milieu that circulates Cocteau, Coco Chanel, and the Marquise Casati. In honor of this year's Met Gala, the theme being an ode to Lagerfeld's lifetime of work in the fashion industry, L'OFFICIEL has re-proposed this special editorial shot by the designer himself alongside an archived interview conducted by Daphné Hézard.
"To my surprise, the Jalou family offered me the chance to edit some exceptional issues of L'OFFICIEL. I started designing the magazine in a notebook as I had dreamed it. In storyboard form, the magazine has taken a delirious turn. Friends I admire have come and participated, filling the Paris salon with their imagination and talent. It was a coincidence that the shooting of Opium had just finished (Arielle Dombasle 's film about Jean Cocteau, in which I had been parachuted as artistic director). Many crazy artists had collaborated on it. Was it this spirit of freedom that prompted me to bring this motley crew together on the cover? Who better than Karl Lagerfeld - the Andy Warhol of fashion - to capture the emotion in photographs. He was able to transform his studio and welcome this joyous band. The theme of the issue was inevitably born: a tribute to Cocteau for the 50th anniversary of his death." - Creative Director Vincent Darrè
L'OFFICIEL: Lagerfeld, what do you really think of Cocteau?
Karl Lagerfeld: I like the young Jean Cocteau. I don't like the Cocteau who drew on restaurant napkins towards the end of his life as much. I was very disappointed with the last volume of his post-humous diary. It's silly and pretentious. He says he's more talented than Picasso or something. I love Cocteau's youth and his post-war films, such as Beauty and the Beast, Orpheus, and Les Enfants Terribles. After that, I didn't like him that much.
L'O: But would you like to meet him?
KL: I'm not someone who thinks I should get to know as many people as possible. The idea I have of them is perhaps more exciting than reality. That is enough. I'm not one to discover the stars. What would I have gained by knowing him?
L'O: But there are similarities between you and Jean Cocteau.
KL: There are none.
L'O: Of course there are. You make films, you draw.
KL: Yes, but I don't write, and I especially don't write bad poetry.
L'O: You don't write?
KL: No, I don't write. I do not have anything to say. I answer questions, but I have nothing to say.
L'O: And why do you say that Jean Cocteau was a bad poet?
KL: That's not what I like most about him. Poetry is a difficult thing. Either you're a full-time poet or you're not.
L'O: What poets do you like?
KL: I like Catherine Pozzi, Anne de Noailles or arch-classical work by Mallarmé, Rimbaud, and Verlaine.
L'O: What was the relationship between Cocteau and Coco Chanel?
KL: Coco Chanel mostly helped him financially. There are many letters where he thanks her for donations, but there's no shame in it. I think it's perfectly right and normal for a rich woman to help artists.
L'O: Is it true that Coco Chanel also paid for his latest rehabilitation?
KL: Yes, he had to. But you know, Coco Chanel was a morphine addict to the last degree. She died of a morphine overdose.
L'O: It kind of seems that it would be necessary to take substances to keep one's talent alive.
KL: Personally I don't think so, but I'm not talented, so I can't say. I personally don't feel the need for it. I find doing what you love to be very inspiring. Work can be a drug, but if you add other things to it, in today's hectic context of life, the situation becomes unmanageable. Situations like that of John Galliano occur, but if you agree to work for a big brand, you also have to take the risks involved and be aware of them. Today this job is like a top-level sport, but it's still a feel-good job.
L'O: Jean Cocteau frequently visited the salon of Annade-Noailles.
KL: Yes, he copied her in the beginning. She was definitely more talented, I think. I also like Emily Dickinson, but poetry, if it's not written with 100%, gives me problems.
L'O: You know the characters in Arielle Dombasle's film well. What do you think of their interpretation in Opium?
KL: The real Marchesa Casati was crazy — the opposite of who Marisa Berenson is. [Marchesa Casati] was more extreme. Marisa embodies benevolence, kindness, and education. She is the opposite of Casati, but she can play her well.
L'O: And what about Nijinsky, played by Philippe Katerine?
KL: I also made a film about Nijinsky with Misia Sert starring as Emmanuelle Seigner and Anna Mouglalis as Coco Chanel. It was very funny. Baptiste Giabiconi was just 18 years old and had never danced in his life. Jean-Christophe Maillot, the director of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo, had been called to show Giabiconi three movements. It was as if Giabiconi had been doing it all his life, but Nijinsky was shorter in stature. A very fascinating new biography has just come out, as well, with many discoveries that I hadn't heard about in other biographies.
L'O: Is it still a job that stimulates you?
KL: I don't ask myself this question. I find it normal. I'm a trader, and that's fine with me.
L'O: Do you like tributes?
KL: I find the word itself awful.
L'O: Why do you think the dead are so fashionable?
KL: I don't know. There are a lot of things that are trendy that I don't really like… that I find ridiculous. It's all a tribute. It's awful. It makes me think of the expression "My respects, ma'am." What interests me is what I do, not what I have done or what I will do. Fun is to keep developing, perfecting, doing.
L'O: What will you do tomorrow?
KL: Being in the middle of haute couture, I'll take pictures late at night, but that's not really important. I have an appointment with some Brazilians for Melissa shoes, another appointment with a gentleman for a perfume, and then back to my tests for Chanel.
HAIR Marc Orsatelli
MAKE-UP Max Delorme
MANICURE Anny Errandonea
PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANTS Olivier Saillant, Xavier Arias, Ben Sollich, Frederic David
DIGITAL RETOUCH Ludovic d'Hardiville
STYLING ASSISTANTS Helena Tejedor, Viviana De Ferrari, Louise Mast, Marine Prud'hon
