Say What Now, Uncle Karl?

14 Nov Say What Now, Uncle Karl?

Karl Lagerfeld had a few choice words to say about the woman whose brand he’s designing for. Uncle Karl (in my head) spoke to those at the International Herald Tribune’s Luxury Heritage conference about fashion designers not ignoring what’s going on in the world around them. That, he says, was Coco Chanel’s biggest mistake.

Well, according to Lagerfeld, she made two toward the end of her career, “The first was when she said ‘Not one man I have spoken to likes a woman in miniskirts.’ I think no one dared to tell this 86-year-old lady that miniskirts are great and really sexy,” he said. Then “number two was when she decided that blue jeans were horrible. This was the fashion of the world at the time at that particular moment- it was the Sixties. No one wanted to be told by an old lady that miniskirts and jeans weren’t chic. This lead to what Karl said as a result, “That she lost her power and in the end no one cared what she did.”

Well I find it hard to believe that no one cared what she did, but I can see how it might have been hard to move in a direction that you didn’t necessarily feel reflected your ladylike brand. I understand Coco, I understand.

Image Courtesy of Zimbio