Zac Posen at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin

New York’s darling Zac Posen and the German Fashion Label Joop! to show in Berlin.

Since Zac Posten debuted in New York City in 2002 with his collection he is in the spotlight of the international fashion world. Today the 27 year old announced that his Resort 2008 will be the final show of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin on 31st of january.

Especially the dynamic and creativity of Berlin were the main reasons for Zac Posen to show in Berlin: “Today Berlin is like New York has been back in the 80’s. The city is one of the most dynamic in Europe and is full of ideas and energy. I am overly happy to be able to show my collection in this creative environment.”

Simultaneously the international successful German fashion label Joop! announced that they will be participating with some off-site show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin. “The participation of the worldwide celebrated labels Zac Posen and Joop! at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin is a wonderful success for the event. The presence of those well-known designers is a sign for the big interest of the international fashion-scene regarding Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin”, says Massimo Redaelli, senior vice president of IMG Fashion Europe.

Besides of Zac Posen and Joop! the following designers have confirmed their participation at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin in january 2008: 30paarhaende, HEIRESS, INTUITIVE, Macqua, Marcel Ostertag, SINEMUS, STEFAN ECKERT, Strenesse, Suzana Peri? and UNRATH & STRANO at the location at Postbahnhof as well as HUGO, MICHALSKY and SISI WASABI in off-locations.

Like in the last season, the Karstadt New Generation Award will happen again and offer young design talents some ideal opportunity to present their creative ideas to some selected fashion professionals.

The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin starts on sunday the 27th of january with the opening show of HUGO and ends on thursday the 31st of january with Zac Posen’s show. Other associated fashion events happening around Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin are the Premium, Ideal, Stark and Projekt Galerie fashion fairs.

http://www.mercedes-benzfashionweekberlin.com

Dolce and Gabbana Visit New York

For the first time in two years, famed fashion designers are coming to New York. The purpose of their visit: to open the new Dolce & Gabbana flagship boutique on Madison Avenue and to host a private dinner tomorrow night with Kate Hudson and Eva Mendes at the Gramercy Park Hotel.

Christian Louboutin’s Tiny Custom-Designed Shoes

From today’s PageSix:

When your dad is Tom Cruise and mom is Katie Holmes, you’re guaranteed the finest footwear, even if you’re still younger than 2 years old. Christian Louboutin has custom-designed a pair of shoes for tiny Suri Cruise, OK! magazine reports. The company had made a mold of the tot’s feet and hand-crafted a pair of bespoke shoes for her. “She’ll be the youngest client,” said a source.

Stella McCartney Wins Top Honors at British Fashion Awards

Stella McCartney has been named Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in London.

She beat out Anya Hindmarch and Luella Bartley to claim the coveted award, which recognizes the leading British designer of couture, ready-to-wear, knitwear or accessories.

Organized by the British Fashion Council, the annual awards celebrate the best emerging and established fashion talents within the British fashion industry.

The prizes are decided by a panel of top fashion editors, retailers and influencers and their committee is chaired by British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman.

Other winners at this year’s awards included jewelery designer Tom Binns, Burberry menswear designer Christopher Bailey and Dame Vivienne Westwood, who was honoured for outstanding achievement in fashion design.

The inaugural Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator, established in memory of the late stylist, was awarded to production and set designer Michael Howells, who has created backdrops for John Galliano and Christian Dior shows.

Designer Erdem Moralioglu won the £50,000 ($136,000) Swarovski-sponsored Fashion Enterprise Award to help develop his label Erdem.

Full list of award recipients:

Kate Moss in Donna Karan Spring-Summer 2008 Ad Campaign

Kate Moss will star in Donna Karan’s Spring-Summer 2008 ad campaign. Donna Karan says she is thrilled to be working with Kate Moss, Vogue UK reports.

“She’s wild and sexy and somebody who has the energy to hang out in the streets, to dance! A woman who would have lived in that rawness but with a polish at the same time,” the designer said.

“The clothes don’t wear her, she wears the clothes.” The campaign - which has a flamboyant “Nueva York” theme - has already been shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot in Los Angeles. “We went cinematographic,” Karan confided to WWD. “We wanted to tell a story and we wanted somebody who had energy, passion, sophistication and cool. You put it all together and it says ‘Kate’.”

Kate Moss Tumbles Down Harper’s Bazaar’s Best Dressed Women in Britain 2007 List

Kate Moss got a triple slap in the face from Harper’s Bazaar fashion magazine, whose best dressed women in Britain 2007 list comes out Thursday.

Not only did the supermodel slide down the glossy monthly style bible’s rankings, but she was also beaten by two models linked to her ex-boyfriends and a starlet dubbed “the new Kate Moss”.

This year, Moss — who topped the 2004 list, came second in 2005 and third in 2006 — plunged to 10th.

She was deemed less fashionable than rocker Pete Doherty’s on-off lover, Romanian model Irina Lazareanu (ninth), and Belgian model Anouck Lepere (eighth) who is fiancee of Jefferson Hack, who himself is the father of Moss’s daughter.

Russian model Natalia Vodianova was ranked the best dressed woman of 2007, followed by British actress Thandie Newton and British model Agyness Deyn — who has been nicknamed “the new Kate Moss” by the British press.

Outside the top 10, Jemima Khan, ex-wife of Pakistani cricketer-turned- politician Imran Khan was ranked 12th; US singer Madonna came 15th and singer Bob Geldof’s daughter Peaches was 17th.

British actresses Sienna Miller (18th), Keira Knightley (21st), Rachel Weisz (22nd), Kate Winslet (23rd) and Emma Watson (24th) came further down the list.

The full list appears in the December issue of Harper’s Bazaar.

Harper’s Bazaar best dressed women of 2007:

  1. Natalia Vodianova (model)
  2. Thandie Newton (actress)
  3. Agyness Deyn (model)
  4. Helen Mirren (actress)
  5. Lily Allen (singer)
  6. Emily Blunt (actress)
  7. J. K. Rowling (authoress)
  8. Anouck Lepere (model)
  9. Irina Lazareanu (model)
  10. Kate Moss (model)

Marc Jacobs: Desginer of the Year at ACE Awards

The man whose own latest accessory is dyed blue hair, Marc Jacobs, took home the “Designer of the Year” award at the 11th Annual ACE Awards in New York on Nov. 5, one of many people honored by the Accessories Council this year for their achievements in the world of accessories.

Jacobs, whose shoes and handbags for both his signature collection and his younger Marc by Marc Jacobs brand are highly sought after items, also designs accessories for one of the most recognizable luxury brands in the world, Louis Vuitton, which he reinvents season after season. His latest collection, shown on the runways in Paris in October, featured a collaboration with artist Richard Prince.

Actress Mandy Moore was honored as “Fashion Innovator,” while supermodel and “Project Runway” producer Heidi Klum, who designed a jewelry line of her own that she will wear in upcoming episodes, received the “Fashion Influencer” award. Moore opted to wear a form-fitting black satin shirt dress, while Klum wore a black and gold brocade gown. Jessica Simpson, a presenter, wore a black and gold sheath.

Black dresses - perhaps better for highlighting one’s accessories - turned out to be the prevailing statement of the evening, as fellow honoree Tory Burch, whose new line garnered the “Accessory Brand Launch” award, wore an elegant black halter gown. Presenter Helena Christensen and Lucy Liu, who accepted Valentino’s lifetime achievement award on his behalf, also looked stunning in tiered dresses - Liu’s, from the Valentino couture collection, featured dramatic, full ruffles and Christensen’s was Grecian column-meets-flapper.

The other award winners included Macy’s, Inc. (Retailer of the Year), Harper’s Bazaar (Magazine of the Year), Scoop (Specialty Retailer of the Year), Bridget Foley (Marylou Luther Award for Fashion Journalism) and Nancy Gonzalez (Brand of the Year).

Karl Lagerfeld Biography

Born in Hamburg in 1938, Karl Lagerfeld emigrated to Paris at the age of 14. He was to go on to become one of the most celebrated designers this century has seen.

In 1955, at the age of just 17, Lagerfeld was awarded a position at Pierre Balmain, after winning a competition sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat (the coat he had designed for the contest was later put into production by Balmain). In 1958, he left to take up a job with Jean Patou, which gave him an invaluable knowledge of couture but apparently very little pleasure. After just one year, he quit to work as a freelance designer for such fashion houses as Krizia, Charles Jourdan and Valentino. By 1964, he had grown so disillusioned with the world of haute couture that he left Paris altogether to study art in Italy.

In 1967, Lagerfeld returned to fashion, joining Fendi as a design consultant. In the Seventies, however, his name was more closely associated with the house of Chloe, where he was given carte blanche to produce exquisite floaty and feminine ready-to-wear collections which claimed to rival contemporary couture. His 1972 Deco collection, which consisted of black and white prints and clever bias-cutting, brought him worldwide acclaim. He produced his last collection for Chloe - now designed by Phoebe Philo - in 1983 to move to Chanel (though he did return briefly in 1993, to replace outgoing designer Martine Sitbon).

At the same time as taking on the title of director of collections and ready-to-wear at Chanel, Lagerfeld launched his own-name label, now synonymous with strong tailoring, combining easy-to-wear cardigan jackets in his favourite bright colours and softly shaped knitwear to create what he describes as “intellectual sexiness”. Meanwhile his designs for the super-chic French fashion house, a fusion of pre-war Chanel and contemporary trends, carried the label to the pinnacle of high fashion in the Eighties and Nineties. Notable moments of his career at Chanel include teaming the traditional box jacket with denim mini skirts in 1991, combining club-influenced black fishnet bodystockings with the traditional Chanel camellia placed cheekily over the breasts and matching hefty lace-up boots with flowing georgette skirts and leather jackets. By 1997, Vogue had crowned him the “unparalleled interpreter of the mood of the moment”.

Despite moving from label to label, Lagerfeld has managed to retain a sense of his own style throughout his career. His success lies in an ability to make a bold statement and he is never afraid to try something new. He has also maintained a sense of humour throughout his designing that has produced such legendary pieces as a shower-dress, with beaded water streaming down the front; a car-dress with a radiator grille and fender, and a multitude of outstandingly eccentric hats, from armchairs to cream cakes, translating Chanel trademarks such as the quilted handbag into a range of seasonal must-haves, including the handbag earring, the handbag hat, the doll-sized shoulder bag, the quilted hip bag, the quilted Alice band and the outsize baguette bag.

He also enjoys a range of outside interests, including languages (he speaks fluent German, English, French and Italian and has expressed a desire to learn Spanish), illustration, antiques and photography (he was responsible for producing Visionaire 23: The Emperor’s New Clothes, a series of nude portraits, starring South African model David Miller) and describes himself as an “intelligent opportunistic” and “professional dilettante”. As he told US Vogue in 1988: “What I enjoy about the job is the job.”

Chanel, 29-31 rue Cambon, 75001 Paris, France
Tel: + 33 (0)1 42 86 28 00

Karl Lagerfeld Takes a Stand on Size Zero Models at Paris Fashion Week

Here is an article from the Telegraph about Karl Lagerfeld’s Paris Fashion Week Show and his refusal to allow overly skinny models to showcase his collection.

Paris Fashion Week: Lagerfeld takes a stand on size zero, by Hilary Alexander, Fashion Director at Paris Fashion Week

Karl Lagerfeld revealed in Paris he had taken a dramatic stand on the size zero issue by rejecting three models for his Chanel catwalk show yesterday (Friday) because they were ‘too skinny’.

“It is the first time I have ever done something like this,” he said.

“I have nothing against skinny girls. But these were terrible. They looked as if they had grown up in a Third World country with no food to eat.

“I sent them back to the agency. I did not think they should be modeling,” said the designer.

He described the three models – who he did not identify – as being so thin as to look ‘almost deformed’ and agreed his stance may persuade other designers to follow suit.

The 45 girls who were accepted to model the Chanel spring/summer 2008 collection ranged in size from lean to luscious. Gemma Ward, the blonde “surfer-babe” from Australia, in particular, looked positively curvaceous in a skimpy bikini.

The show was staged in the Grand Palais, on a dark blue and silver star-print stage, surmounted with a 30ft high bow – stars and bows being two of the themes of the collection – before one of the largest celebrity front rows seen this week in Paris.

Among those sitting ringside were Victoria Beckham, in a bright green, 1950’s vintage dress; the actress, Kirsten Dunst; the rock, rap and pop singers, Courtney Love, Kanye West, Lily Allen and Alison Mosshart from The Kills; the supermodel, Claudia Schiffer; and the burlesque queen, Dita Von Teese.

The collection was a “BoomBox” club mix of goth, biker, disco, rock ‘n’ roll, futuristic, surfer and sports looks, which even included tennis wear, complete with leg-warmer socks and Double C-logo rackets.

A classic cardigan jacket occasionally materialized amongst the cacophony, more often than not teamed with a denim leotard or a pair of baggy jeans equipped with the latest Chanel “must-have” – jeweled bicycle clips.

The show opened with a salute to America’s favourite fabric - denim. Woven with silk, technically distressed and faded, it came as sexy-sporty swimwear, with biker jackets and sparkling silver, wedge-sole, “disco boots” or shoes with no laces.

There was more Americana in a stars-and-stripes sequence, which featured flag-meets-nautical looks in raw-edge jackets, dresses and skirts with “pinking shear” hems, in a mix of red-and-white stripes and navy-and-white star prints, accessorized with patent high heels with a miniature quilted bag attached to one ankle, in the manner of the US ‘Alcohol Detecting Ankle-Strap’, as recently sported by Lindsay Lohan.

Party wear included everything from Little Black Dresses, stamped with rivets and festooned with dangling silver chains, to skintight slinks patchworked with metallic circles, embroidered lace trousers and demure, star-print long gowns with matching hair-bows.

“It’s all about proposals for life,” said Lagerfeld of his Chanel fashion ‘casserole’.

“There’s no room for just one way; people need clothes for different lifestyles”.

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2007/10/06/efchanel106.xml

Karl Lagerfeld Turns the Great Wall of China into a Runway for Fendi

Here’s a fashion show on a scale never held before, with eighty eight models walking down a ramp that is literally one of its kind in the world - a ramp nothing less than the Great Wall of China.

Some of the country’s most famous stars gathered at the Wall at Juyongguan, an hour north of Beijing, for the unveiling of a new line, partly designed by Karl Lagerfeld for fashion house Fendi.

China’s Great Wall was not just a popular tourist spot on Friday (October 19, 2007) night - it was a catwalk. Over eighty models from all over the world flew in, just to be able to walk down one of the new seven wonders of the world. The brains behind all this is Fendi, one of the world’s most popular luxury brands. After working for a year to get permission to set up the glamorous stage, Fendi raised Chinese eyebrows. Silvia Fendi, the designer of the new looks, said there was hardly anything left to top this.

But the audience for the fashion show on the Great Wall, mainly constituted those Chinese civilians, who are benefiting most from the economy’s rapid rise - the newly rich. Still Karl Lagerfeld, designer of not only Fendi but also of a few other top luxury brands - defended fashion by stating saying that, it could in fact lead to the betterment of lives.

While all the Chinese political leaders are talking about an agenda to build a harmonious society, out there on the catwalk, the order of the day was consumerism, luxury and business.

Petro Zillia Closes Los Angeles Fashion Week Spring 2008 … with Paris Hilton?

CULVER CITY, Calif. (AP) — Who better to add some spice to Petro Zillia’s closing show of bright, sassy dresses at L.A. Fashion Week than ultimate L.A. girl Paris Hilton? It all was, like the show’s name, “So L.A.”

Light bulbs flashed and necks swiveled when Hilton sashayed down the runway Thursday night to her front-row seat at Smashbox Studios’ main tent arm-in-arm with the label’s designer, Nony Tochterman.

Hilton, wearing a Petro Zillia midnight blue satin jumpsuit, had missed her sister Nicky’s spring Chick collection earlier in the week.

“I’ve been shooting a film in Toronto for two months,” Hilton told The Associated Press, adding that she had arrived in town the night before for Spike TV’s Scream Awards and to see Petro Zillia’s “great collection.”

The last time Tochterman showed at L.A. Fashion Week was two years ago. Last year, the L.A.-based designer opened her first store, soaking in the trendy street styles of women in the area.

Thursday’s collection triumphantly reflected that influence, with block colors as bright and California fresh as Tochterman’s pink hair, and dresses either skimming the thigh or swept low to the ground.

“This season is all inspired by the L.A. girl, the fearless girl into fashion,” Tochterman told The AP in a phone interview. “I love the dress trend. Putting on a dress and running out of the house and looking like you didn’t try too hard. The girls here don’t know the rules our parents used to follow. They wear what they like.”

That confidence reigned on the catwalk, where models sporting fake Afro-puff ponytails and huge heart-shaped earrings strutted in gold knee-high Roman boots or gold platform heels, playing up a fun ’70s feel.

The line showcased silk ruffled dresses, either short in coral or floor-length in red. There were off-the-shoulder sheer gowns in orange silk and hot pink chiffon, accented by a trailing scarf.

A gold rayon knitted vest stretched to the ankle. It was saucily cinched in front and left open to reveal matching, high-waisted gold underwear.

One standout greeted by clapping and cheers was a gorgeous floor-length teal wrap dress with delicate folds of chiffon worthy of any starlet prepping for the awards show season.

Silk and satin jumpers, in line with trends in New York and Milan, came in bright yellow and fuchsia. Belted shorts and flowing wide-legged pants were paired with metallic knitted tops.

Only a daring woman would don the see-through black dress with enormous gold-edged flowers shown at the collection’s end. Then again, the gown brought a zesty finish to Mercedes-Benz L.A. Fashion Week.

The week’s 34 shows included designers Sue Wong, Randolph Duke, Christian Audigier, Kevan Hall, Jeremy Scott, Heatherette and Monarchy Collection, which presented its looks on a catwalk of green grass.

“When I lived in New York, I felt New York was the only place where I could get inspired in the streets. Now the mentality, the culture, is all changing,” noted Tochterman. “The fashion and culture is so inspiring here.”

“Yves Saint Laurent in Twilight”

From today’s Page Six:

Fashionistas are buzzing over the poor health of Yves Saint Laurent. The retired king of couture was in a wheelchair last week when he made a rare public appearance at the exhibit of his theatrical work at the Fondation Pierre Bergé in his old headquarters on the Avenue Marceau. “He was pale and his face was swollen and puffy,” observed our spy. “He really didn’t look well at all.” Saint Laurent, 71, has a history of health problems. He retired from his couture house in 2002 and retreated to his homes in Paris and Marrakech. Gucci Group now owns the ready-to-wear label Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche.

While he has been retired for a few years now, we wish Yves Saint Laurent were still designing; he’s always been one of our favorite designers. Otherwise we wish him well and the best of health!

Marc Jacobs’ Behavior at Paris Fashion Week S/S 2008

Here’s an article from the New York Post (by Danica Lo) about the Marc Jacobs’ show at Paris Fashion Week:

MARC Jacobs bared his tongue in Paris on Sunday night. While taking his bow on the catwalk following the Louis Vuitton show, he publicly - in front of an audience that included his boss, LVMH head Bernard Arnault, the world’s top fashion editors, and celebs like Courtney Love, Kanye West and Victoria Beckham - stuck it out at International Herald Tribune fashion critic Suzy Menkes.

The designer’s defiant, if childish, gesture was a response to Menkes’ scathing review of Jacobs’ namesake Marc Jacobs spring 2008 collection: “A bad, sad show,” she called it, that “symbolized everything that is wrong with current fashion.” And the tongue is just the latest in a string of bizarre, bratty antics that have industry insiders whispering about the state of Jacobs’ mental affairs.

While he is arguably the most influential working American fashion designer today, this past year has seen Jacobs, 44, in and out of rehab and plagued with rumors about plastic surgery and drug-induced weight loss (he insists he dropped the pounds by working out and going organic).

Embroiled in a steamy, on-again off-again relationship with Jason Preston - the ex-male prostitute and former porn-star who had Jacobs’ name tattooed on his fore-get-your-mind-out-of-the-gutter-arm - Jacobs has also posed naked for a WWD cover, Out magazine, and the latest self-edited issue of Visionaire.

His previously critic-proof professional success is also suffering rumblings of imminent backlash. Not only is he earning a (deserved) reputation for being unable to start a show anywhere near on time - the Vuitton show in Paris started an hour and a half late and the Marc Jacobs show here started more than two hours past schedule - recent reviews have been far less than stellar.

“A remarkable display of self-destruction,” The Post called it.

In the days that followed, Jacobs gave a ranting interview to WWD, blaming the Council of Fashion Designers of America for his tardiness, whining about feeling like an outsider and threatening to move all his shows to Europe.

To be honest, we expected a lot more from the man who was credited with bringing creative credibility back to the American fashion industry beginning with grunge in the early ’90s. Instead, he’s turned into a whiny, bratty, self-obsessed cheeseball. Whether his new image and obnoxious professional demeanor will impact his bottom line remains to be seen. And we’re not talking about his ass - though we’re sure it’s in great shape, and no we don’t want to see it (anymore).

Banned from Louis Vuitton Show at Paris Fashion Week

October 7, 2007 — FASHION journalists are buzzing over how Newsweek’s Dana Thomas was banned from today’s Louis Vuitton ready-to-wear show in Paris. Thomas apparently struck a nerve at the 150-year-old leather goods house with her best-selling book, “Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster.” She wrote, “Vuitton is the McDonald’s of the luxury industry: it’s far and away the leader, brags of millions sold, has stores at all the top tourist sites - usually steps away from a McD’s - and has a logo as recognizable as the Golden Arches.” The International Herald Tribune’s Suzy Menkes was banned from Dior a few years ago and the New York Times’ Cathy Horyn from Dolce & Gabbana last winter, both after writing reviews that displeased the brands. Calls to Vuitton reps in New York and Paris weren’t returned. Thomas had no comment. Chances are, however, the ban won’t last forever. “Menkes is back at Dior now,” our source told us. Other luxury brands, meanwhile, seem unperturbed by Thomas’s book. She was spotted at the Christian Dior and Hermes shows earlier in the week.

source: page six

Lagerfeld Confidential: Karl Lagerfeld Remains a Mystery

The following is an article about the new documentary on Karl Lagerfeld, called Lagerfeld Confidential:

PARIS (AP) — A mantelpiece is strewn with a dozen iPods and hundreds of chunky silver rings. Drawers are full of starched shirt collars. Piles of books stretch skyward like teetering towers of Pisa.

This close-up look at Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld’s lavish life is shown in “Lagerfeld Confidential” — a new French movie condensing two years of the ponytailed designer’s frenetic activity into a riveting hour and a half.

But despite the movie’s focus on the fashion world’s most enigmatic icon, Lagerfeld remains shrouded in mystery.

Like a shadow, the camera trails Lagerfeld — who also designs for Italian luxury brand Fendi and his own eponymous label — as he churns out hurried sketches, takes a victory lap on the catwalk to thundering applause, jets to Monaco and New York and shoots hunky male models clad only in strategically placed fur.

While present in nearly every shot, Lagerfeld remains distant, aloof and ultimately unknowable behind his signature dark shades.

“I don’t want to be a reality in people’s lives,” Lagerfeld tells the camera in one scene. “I want to be a ghost.”

The movie — which opens in France next week and is set for U.S. release later this month — is the product of a two-year collaboration between Lagerfeld and Rodolphe Marconi, a dashing young French director who shot more than 300 hours of footage of Lagerfeld at work and play.

Marconi said it was Lagerfeld’s hard public image that drew him to the designer.

“I was sure there was a real human behind” the facade, Marconi told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “I wanted to show it.”

In some scenes, Marconi just about pulls it off.

We see Lagerfeld do things that regular people do, such as chow down on his version of a TV dinner: a chef-prepared meal served in his hotel room. In another scene, the 69-year-old designer beams with childlike glee as he tries on a gold lame baseball jacket at a Christian Dior boutique.

But mostly he is impenetrable, shooting off pointed, witty remarks in his rapid-fire French to his ever-present, adoring entourage.

“Ohh! Ahh,” coo the members of his inner circle in one scene, as Lagerfeld shows off his photos of a male model.

Marconi, a 31-year-old actor-turned-director, often comes off as yet another Lagerfeld lackey. He rushes to open the car door for Lagerfeld, guffaws loudly at his jokes and nearly drips obsequiousness toward the designer.

In their one-on-one interviews, Marconi tiptoes around the hard questions, asking Lagerfeld about his childhood and sexuality with a trepidation so palpable that on one occasion an exasperated Lagerfeld scolds him for it.

“You either see (what you want to ask) more clearly or we’ll go on to another subject,” he says abruptly.

Asked about his love life, Lagerfeld skirts the question and instead criticizes domestic partnership laws in France. He keeps personal revelations to a minimum, referring obliquely to a “tragedy” — Lagerfeld had a widely known relationship with a French aristocrat who died of AIDS in 1989 — but going no further.

“Lagerfeld Confidential” pounds home his motto — carpe diem — with about as much subtlety as a sledgehammer. Again and again, Lagerfeld proclaims he has no ties to the past and lives only for the present moment.

“If it was really better before, then we should all just kill ourselves right away,” he says with characteristic dryness.

Marconi said when he approached Lagerfeld with his movie proposal, the designer’s assistant told him “more than 100 people” had already asked permission to make such a film.

Marconi said he was not sure why Lagerfeld chose him: “Perhaps because I didn’t go into it with an agenda.”

Lagerfeld gained a reputation by reviving a flagging Chanel after taking over in 1982, and in 2004 designed a collection for Swedish fast-fashion retailer H&M that made his work available to customers with smaller purses. In a sign of his celebrity status, Lagerfeld released a CD of his favorite songs and a weight-loss guide filled with the secrets that allowed him to shed 80 pounds.

Lagerfeld said Marconi’s film “ended up annoying me.”

“Let’s say that Rodolphe Marconi was able to observe and capture what I wanted to play for him,” he was quoted as saying in French Vogue. “It’s not that I lie, it’s that I don’t owe the truth to anyone. After all, I’m not facing a judge, but a director.”

Asked whether he thought he had gotten to know Lagerfeld, Marconi said, “I have the feeling I know him now … though in truth, you never really know anyone.”

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