Karl Lagerfeld's Personal Assistant Publishes Book About the Late Fashion Designer
On January 27, 2021, the book Ça va, cher Karl? ("How are You, Dear Karl?") by Sébastian Jondeau, bodyguard and personal assistant to the legendary fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld will be published by French literary house Flammarion. To write the 220-page book, Jondeau was assisted by Virginie Mouzat, Le Figaro's fashion critic and contributor to Vanity Fair France.
Ça va, cher Karl? is a memoir chronicling three decades of life between Jondeau and Lagerfeld. The narrative of the book does not follow a chronological order, but rather Jondeau's flow of memories. He shares moments that are not always pleasant, such as the discovery of Lagerfeld's health problems, but encapsulates their relationship as a close bond, similar to one shared by a father and son.
The first contact between the two occurred when the young Jondeau, then 15 years old, was called to move furniture from the 18th century. Under Lagerfeld's employment, their partnership gave Jondeau the chance to model for Chanel and pose in campaigns.
Lagerfeld died in February 2019. Other books on the global fashion icon are in the process of being published, however, Jondeau's is set to be one of the most intimate accounts of the designer's life.