"Not that he put it that way exactly. What he said was: 'Chanel is an institution, and you have to treat an institution like a whore — and then you get something out of her.' This approach has become almost quotidian in the industry, but before Mr. Lagerfeld was hired at Chanel, when the brand was fading into staid irrelevance kept aloft on a raft of perfume and cosmetics, it was a new and startling idea. That he dared act on it, and then kept doing so with varying degrees of success for decades, transformed not only the fortunes of Chanel (now said to have revenues of over $4 billion a year) but also his own profile.... But he rejected the idea of fashion-as-art, and the designer-as-tortured genius. His goal was more opportunistic... His personal proclivities were a constantly mutating collection of decades, people and disciplines. His one great fear was of being bored. His conversations (or monologues) could, in almost one breath, bounce from Anita Ekberg romping in the Trevi fountain, to how rich women in the 1920s slept under ermine sheets, and then to the Danish fairy tale illustrator Kay Nielsen. His one blind spot was his own mortality, which he refused to acknowledge. As he said... 'I don’t want to be real in other people’s lives. I want to be an apparition.'"
The NYT was ready to go big on the death of Karl Lagerfeld, which has finally arrived.
The long obit is by Vanessa Friedman.
ADDED: From
a 2015 post of mine, quoting
"A Comprehensive List Of Everything Karl Lagerfeld Hates":
"I hate intellectual conversation with intellectuals because I only care about my opinion, but I like to read very abstract constructions of the mind.... I hate rich people when they try to be communists or socialists. I think it’s obscene.... I hate sloppy footwear. What I hate most is flip-flops. I am physically allergic to flip-flops.... And I hate to wear suspenders. I have the feeling I'm wearing a bra...."
Oh, how I wish more people would say interesting things!
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Never heard of the guy, but supposedly he spoiled his cat.
Click on my tag. I've got at least one old post about the cat.
Lagerfeld was a very interesting character. Spoke in a unique way — I wish there were more people who did that.
They had lots of time to work up really bad prose.
I love that you posted a Kay Nielsen image with the post.
That was the first thing I did on reading the excerpt -- google Kay Nielsen.
You know you've finally arrived when the NYT has your obit ready to go the moment you leave.
Thank you for introducing me to this artist. Kay Nielsen. She reminds me of Art Deco and Mucha.
Perhaps it is just the watercolors.
Another wonderful children's book illustrator who works in a classic style is Lisbeth Zwerger
I digress.
There is no greater moment in a woman's day than when she reaches under her shirt, unhooks her bra, pulls it out of her sleeve and flings it across the room.
Karl Lagerfeld understood that.
Kay Nielsen was a man.
"I hate rich people when they try to be communists or socialists. I think it’s obscene."
I hate rich American socialists and rich American communists who get to keep THEIR money but find a way to tax-rape the rest of us.
I hate intellectual conversation with intellectuals because I only care about my opinion, but I like to read very abstract constructions of the mind.... I hate rich people when they try to be communists or socialists. I think it’s obscene.... I hate sloppy footwear. What I hate most is flip-flops. I am physically allergic to flip-flops.... And I hate to wear suspenders. I have the feeling I'm wearing a bra...."Oh, how I wish more people would say interesting things!
Should I assume Lagerfeld voted for Trump?
What I hate most is flip-flops.
I'm surprised he knew what they were. Must have been South Beach.
His personal proclivities were a constantly mutating collection of decades
Huh?
I'd say Nielsen is Art Nouveau with a splash of Gorey.
From the Wikipedia article on Kay Neilsen:
"1939 Nielsen left for California and worked for Hollywood companies. A personal recommendation from Joe Grant to Walt Disney secured Nielsen a job with The Walt Disney Company, where his work was used in the "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Ave Maria" sequences of Fantasia. Nielsen was renowned at the Disney studio for his concept art and he contributed artwork for many Disney films, including concept paintings for a proposed adaptation of [fellow Dane] Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. The adaptation was to be part of a package film containing various segments based on Andersen's fairy tales. The film, however, was not made within Nielsen's lifetime and his work went unused until production started on the 1989 film. Nielsen worked for The Walt Disney Company for 4 years, from 1937 to 1941 before being let go.
"Nielsen briefly returned to Denmark in desperation. However, he found his works no longer in demand there either. His final years were spent in poverty. His last works were for local schools, including 'The First Spring' mural installed at Central Junior High School, Los Angeles and churches, including his painting to the Wong Chapel at the First Congregational Church, Los Angeles, illustrating the 23rd Psalm.
"Nielsen contracted a chronic cough that would plague him until his death on June 21, 1957 at the age of 71. His funeral service was held under his mural in the Wong Chapel. Ulla, his wife since she was 21, died the following year. Before her death to diabetes, Ulla gave Nielsen's remaining illustrations to Frederick Monhoff, who in turn tried to place them in museums. However, none – American or Danish – would accept them at the time."
Here that painting in the Wong Chapel.
"Should I assume Lagerfeld voted for Trump?"
I certainly hope not. He was born in Germany and lived in France.
What has Lagerfeld said about Trump? From US Magazine in April 2017:
--------------------------
“I knew Trump before, when he was not in politics,” the outspoken 83-year-old fashion designer told the publication. “I’m not American, but he’s a democratically elected president of America, so people have to deal with it.”
German-born Lagerfeld added that he doesn’t believe the worlds of fashion and politics need to mix the way they often do these days. “Fashion people are fashion, they are not politics,” he said. The iconic designer gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel as an example, saying, “Maybe her clothes are horrible, but she is not in fashion, hmm?”...
“I loved Michelle Obama, but she doesn’t want to [run for office],” he said. “Mrs. Trump is a very nice woman and pretty handsome. Good body, no? And this Ivanka is quite cute, no?”
Lagerfeld’s name has already been roped into the political arena; on Wednesday, February 13, Melania Trump made her first official White House appearance in a white cashmere Karl Lagerfeld pencil skirt and matching jacket. (Lagerfeld was previously rumored to be in talks to design her inauguration outfit as well, though that did not end up being the case.)
--------------------------
A lot of Lagerfeld's sayings gain luster because he's the one who said them. I hate flip flops, too, but nobody will call that as an interesting aperçu.
And the French stylish beat goes on. My wife still laughs about the maker's name of her new Xmas perfume:Jimmy Choo. He must be Chinese French.
Generally I am in the 'ultra realistic' school of painting. I want them to paint something that shows a great deal of skill. Pollack was an ass.
But...when you have this certain 'flair' of style WITH technical skill, like Mucha, and Nielsen (I also browsed the wiki page...after the comment. Apologies), then I can respect and admire the artist.
Most art these days just looks lazy.
But look at Deborah Butterfield. She makes these driftwood horses. Just THAT is amazing. But hold on! She takes the driftwood pieces and pours them in bronze...and then paints the bronze to look like driftwood again!
That...is imagination, technical chops, and a variety of skills. Who can't love that? Well, art snobs perhaps.
Who were we talking about again? Karl Jung...Marx...oh, the perfume guy. Yeah...nice scents.
"What I hate most is flip-flops."
#MeToo.
That...is imagination, technical chops, and a variety of skills.
It's also profit-making. Bronzes you can copy.
FIDO -- you might also enjoy Nancy Graves' Camels
"I have the feeling I'm wearing a bra...."
Humblebrag about not having manboobs.
Here that painting in the Wong Chapel
Now that screams 1930's, but without the muscular fascist worker.
I hate rich people when they try to be communists or socialists. I think it’s obscene....
Hey! Me too! Though “hate” is probably too strong a word. “Hold n a level of the deepest contempt” is more accurate.
What is the most hateful thing about flip flops?
1. The feeling of the thong between your toes.
2. The slapping sound the back of the sole makes when it hits your heel with each step.
3. How much foot is exposed and how dirty it probably is by the time I get to look at it.
4. How they're supposed to be so thoroughly easygoing and simple but they're actually hard to walk in and a terrible choice if you're really walking anywhere.
Althouse said "Oh, how I wish more people would say interesting things!"
No one dares, the mob demands conformity.
I have nothing against thongs, except when worn by men in skinny jeans. That gives me hairballs.
I wear them all the time around the house or pool or gyn showers. I don't wear them out, though.
Now, Birkinstocks on the other hand. . . . . .those are a fashion crime against humanity.
gyn = gym
Although it comes off as sort of funny the other way.
One word: genius.
Crocs makes very good flip-flops, they hug your feet with no slapping, and have little nubs on the inner sole that massage your feet, and arch support. You can have thong or criss-cross style. However I don't wear them off the property cuz the public space is so dirty nowadays.
Has anyone noticed that young men are spitting again?
I wear Crocs when I'm gardening or working in the orchard. They can get all muddy, covered in that sticky clay, and when I'm done I just hose them off and let them dry upside down on some dowels. Socks can be rinsed off in a bucket by the door and wrung out to dry and washed later.
No more tracking in mud, clumps of debris into the utility room.
I would never ever wear those out in public!
Althouse:What is the most hateful thing about flip flops?
I vote for #4
4. How they're supposed to be so thoroughly easygoing and simple but they're actually hard to walk in and a terrible choice if you're really walking anywhere.
I get cramps in my feet when I walk any distance in flip flops (we called them "Go Aheads" when I was a kid.) My toes try to grip the thong and my arches cramp up.
Going to and from the pool something. Probably ok, but any further than that....instant cramps. I'd rather go barefoot at the beach on the sand than wear those things.
Lager Feld sounds a lot like President Trump. Creative,intelligent, non-conventional. I saved the best for last. Successful
Althouse said "Oh, how I wish more people would say interesting things!"
So we end up discussing flip flops.
Here's another collection of Lagerfeld quotes which the Brits found interesting.
If you wear a thong at the beach, you get thanlines.
Free list of quotes, muy fonny:
https://www.france24.com/en/20190219-wit-wisdom-karl-lagerfeld-best-quotes
The truest testament to Karl Lagerfeld’s talent is that he was the lone fatty in fashion.
I wonder what he thought of men wearing shorts.
Okay,
Hate flip flops. Bought some Crocs because where I lived flooded frequently and I needed 'non-sock' shoes which protected the toes.
Henry: it isn't that I like quadropeds. It is that they looked like wood but were bronze. Defied expectations in a technically wonderful way.
But thank you for the dromedaries
He sounds like a real card. I'd drink w Lagerfeld
The coolest shoes I have ever worn, by far, are leather flip-flops.
By Rainbow
You are welcome.
”I hate rich American socialists and rich American communists....”
Who?
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