Kaiser Karl and his oh-so acid tongue: After he savaged Meryl Streep over her snub for his Oscars dress, the withering put-downs of the Chanel chief
Wearing a sweeping blue gown embroidered with sparkling sequins and cut elegantly off the shoulder, Meryl Streep should have been the belle of the ball at the Oscars on Sunday night.
But instead the actress’s appearance — her record 20th nomination for an Academy award — was overshadowed by claims made by Karl Lagerfeld, the outspoken creative director of Chanel, so famed for his acid tongue that he’s known as Kaiser Karl.
The designer claimed Meryl had been paid to wear her Elie Saab dress — and rejected his £85,000 design, which she’d originally planned to wear.
Karl Lagerfeld claimed Meryl had been paid to wear her Elie Saab dress to the Oscars — and rejected his £85,000 design, which she’d originally planned to wear
He said: ‘I made a sketch and we started to make [her] dress. Then [her camp told us], “Don’t continue the dress. We found someone who will pay us”. After we gift her a dress that’s 100,000 euros, we found later we had to pay [for her to wear it].
‘We give them dresses, we make the dresses . . . but we don’t pay. A genius actress, but cheapness also, no?’
It later turned out the 83-year-old had got the wrong end of the stick. Several designers had been asked to submit sketches of dresses for Meryl, 67, and — shock horror! — she’d chosen one that wasn’t his.
Lagerfeld has made quite a habit of feuding with celebrities, designers — and anyone, really
A grovelling apology followed, which Meryl refused to accept, accusing the Chanel boss of lying, undermining her integrity and eclipsing her landmark Oscars appearance.
Yet you can’t help but feel the veteran designer was secretly relishing the outrage. For Lagerfeld has made quite a habit of feuding with celebrities, designers — and anyone, really.
Born in Hamburg, he has repeatedly lied about his birth date, insisting he is between two and five years younger than he really is.
His first collection, shown in 1958 when Lagerfeld, an art and history graduate, was just 25, comprised cocktail dresses slashed so low at the front that audience members booed.
His tirade against the A-list started in 2009, when he declared model Heidi Klum insignificant in the world of high fashion.
At the Royal Wedding in 2011, there were ‘too many ugly hats’ and ‘short skirts on fat legs’, while bridesmaid Pippa Middleton ‘should only show her back’. Carole Middleton received a rare compliment — at others’ expense. ‘I think the mother is sexier than the daughters.’
Eccentric to the point of bizarre, Lagerfeld rarely leaves home without his sunglasses, fingerless gloves and snow-white hair (which he powders like a Georgian wig).
He once designed a teddy bear that bore his face.
He lives in an astonishingly tacky apartment in Paris, alone but for his beloved Siamese cat, Choupette, who has two maids and eats beside him at the table.
He owns 300 iPods, but never goes online and rarely answers the phone.
He said of the Middleton sisters: ‘Kate Middleton (pictured) has a nice silhouette. I like that kind of woman, I like romantic beauties. On the other hand, the sister struggles. I don’t like the sister’s face.’
‘I send notes,’ he says. ‘I’m not a chambermaid whom you can ring at every moment.’
Deep down Lagerfeld is lonely, having lost the love of his life, French socialite Jacques de Bascher, to Aids in 1989.
It would be easy to excuse his rude behaviour as grief, but then Lagerfeld is nothing if not a shrewd businessman.
He’s enjoyed two decades at Chanel, increasing its worth ten-fold to £15.3 billion and knows his ability to attract headlines (even bad ones) is good business. After all, who will remember the name of the designer Meryl did wear to the Oscars?
Here’s Karl Lagerfeld at his most caustic:
ON CELEBRITIES
On the Middleton sisters: ‘Kate Middleton has a nice silhouette. I like that kind of woman, I like romantic beauties. On the other hand, the sister struggles. I don’t like the sister’s face.’
Karl on Adele: ‘She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice’
On Princess Diana: ‘She was pretty and she was sweet, but she was stupid.’
On Adele: ‘She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice.’
On Michelle Obama: ‘I don’t understand the change of hair. There is a news reader . . . who has this haircut. Frankly, this doesn’t suit her. The fringe was a bad idea, it’s not good.’
On designer Yves Saint Laurent: ‘He is very middle of the road French — very provincial.’
On Andy Warhol: ‘Physically, he was quite repulsive.’
ON THE PUBLIC
On people who object to thin models: ‘They are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television.’
On men: ‘There are not too many people with an opinion I care for. I’m not crazy to discuss fashion with men. I couldn’t care less about their opinion.’
On short men: ‘Some ugly people are great. What I hate is ugly, nasty people. The worst is ugly short men. Women can be short, but for men it is impossible. It is something that they will not forgive in life — they are mean and they want to kill you.’
On jogging bottoms: ‘Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants.’
On selfies: ‘I don’t do selfies. But other people do, and they all want to do selfies with me . . . ’
He said: ‘I don’t do selfies. But other people do, and they all want to do selfies with me . . . ’
ON SOCIAL MORES
On revenge: ‘When people think it’s all forgotten I pull the chair away — maybe ten years later.’
On weddings: ‘Normally, I don’t recommend me for wedding dresses. They all get a divorce.’
P.S. ON HIMSELF
‘I’m very much down to earth, just not this earth.’
Most watched News videos
- Car on the wrong side of the road dramatically slams into horses
- Man downs bottle of tequila for bet then dies minutes later
- Racism in the street as muslim man goes on tirade against Polish
- Pepper spray road rage in Daytona Beach, Florida
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle hand in hand at friends wedding
- Surfer brazenly riding gargantuan is swallowed in stunning clip
- Grumpy basset hound just wants some love and attention
- Gator strolls through golf course in Florida carrying a large fish
- Explore the luxurious hotel hosting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
- Inmate launches terrifying attack on detention officer
- Sinister moment turkeys perform 'death dance' around a dead cat
- Dog plays dead and winds up his friend who barks in panic
- Obama DENIES Trump's sensational 'Nixon/Watergate' phone...
- Zambian shoppers run in terror when strange 'Harry Potter...
- Time to cool off! Happy (and hunky) Prince Harry enjoys a...
- Horrifying moment two horse riders are hit by a car...
- Married woman is found dead 'with her car still running...
- Mother abandons online appeal to raise £5,000 to take her...
- Revealed: Tony Blair's secret White House summit as he...
- What a Carrie on! Russia mocks Sarah Jessica Parker after...
- Far-right group and anti-fascists clash with police as...
- Harry's all mine! Meghan's protective arm and her £5,000...
- Police launch investigation as boy, nine, dies from...
- Furious Trump 'went ballistic at Priebus and Bannon, then...
- Trump's NEW travel ban: The President 'will sign an...
- The shocking moment a moving company driver was shot in...
- Fury at 'ignorant' BBC for questioning whether an MP...
- 'Yes, he is our President': Violent clashes break out...
- When the glitter wears off: Mardi Gras revellers look...
- Passenger who opened taxi door which knocked cyclist who...