As you may recall, one of The Luxe Chronicles' very first postings pertained to the boycott by the fashion press of Merci Karl, the "tell-all" book written by Arnaud Maillard, a former design assistant and member of Karl Lagerfeld's inner circle. I was able to get my hands on a copy of "Merci Karl" from Amazon's French site - it took forever to be delivered to me in London but it finally arrived late last week and I read it over the weekend. After reading the book cover to cover as promised, I'm decidedly perplexed by all the brouhaha surrounding it.
From this book, we learn that Mr. Lagerfeld can be self-absorbed and narcissistic. A narcissistic fashion designer - really? That he cultivates a cosy relationship with influential fashion editors such as French Vogue's Carine Roitfeld. Scandalous! That he has a compulsive need to control his public image. Unbelievable! We also learn that he can be self-deprecating not to mention very generous with his inner circle. He gave the author a Rolex watch for his 24th birthday and regularly gave him custom-made shirts and cashmere sweaters. The ogre! More importantly, he also gave him an opportunity to live out his dream - a hands-on apprenticeship in a leading fashion house followed by fifteen years of solid employment during which the author developed the creative and business skills any talented and ambitious student of fashion would kill for. In return, he demanded loyalty, devotion and a solid work ethic. What exactly is wrong with that? Yes, I have no doubt that it's a demanding, stressful and at times frustrating way to earn a living. But so is practicing law in a large corporate lawfirm or a fortune 500 company. And neither of these jobs are anywhere as sexy or exciting as Mr. Arnaud's.
On the whole, Merci Karl struck me as a somewhat naive and opportunistic exercise. This is not to say that Lagerfeld is not capable of considerable cruelty: he informed a member of his team of her impending termination by presenting her with a caricature depicting a hand holding her decapitated head Marie-Antoinette style, in the presence of his entire design and press teams*. I admit, the anecdote sent a cold shiver down my spine. Aside from this anecdote however, there is really little more to this book than an interesting behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of a fashion house. At the end of the day, it is the omerta (the mafia code of silence) which greeted this book when it was released that constitutes the only real scandal here.
*A. Maillard, Merci Karl!, Calmann-Levy, Paris 2007, pp. 84-85.
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