The podium in the sky.

Today I learnt of the passing of Monsieur Karl Lagerfeld and it has made me really sad. 

Karl was only a few days older than my mum although he never admitted it!

I know that this is a 'miniature' blog and supposed to be fun but we are the product of our pasts and Karl was an important person in my life. Many years ago now I was contacted for an interview without being told for which couture house and it turned out to be Chloé Paris. The interview took place in a neutral office and I was given the job as 'premiere d'atelier', basically working closely with the designer to interpret his ideas and make them happen as far as the fashion show. Karl had basically made Chloé as an international label over 20 years, one of the most successful in the world at the time but left through differences with the owners. Contrary to many fashion house 'Chloé' wasn't actually a person but a creation in itself. 

The designer I was to work with was Carlos Rodrigues who had just taken over from Peter O'Obrien who incidentally I had gone to St Martins fashion school with years before. Peter and I had come to Paris with the school and with out little group we went out to nightclubs and bars in the 70's when Paris was let's say ,, different. Carlos chose me as he felt we clicked although he only lasted a few seasons before being replaced by Martine Sitbon, an established designer with her own successful label.  When Martine left it was rumoured that Karl was to come back to Chloé and I had decided it was time for a change of job as I was daunted by his reputation. One night I was working late alone in the workroom on a tricky garment, trying to make it work when I realised that in my distraction Karl was standing in the doorway watching me. He was immediately nice and put me at ease talking about work. I was told that after a fitting in his presence I would know if he felt comfortable working with me as the role of Premiere is a delicate one. Karl and I got on from day one and I was witness to his extraordinary talent for design. Some times he would turn up empty handed and I would say ' Karl we need designs' and he would grab a pile of paper and draw up to thirty designs just like that. At the time Karl was also working at Chanel and his own label Karl Lagerfeld, not to mention Fendi in Italy. His extreme activity took him through the day and he would come to Chloé in the evening as he said he enjoyed the atmosphere there. This meant that he arrived at 8 pm and onwards and we would often finish at midnight or later during the collection fittings. Our fitting models at the time were Linda Evangelista, Kristen Mcmenamy, Karen Mulder, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell, the world's most famous women, ready for anything with Karl. Linda was a chameleon, you never knew what she was going to look like from red headed and sultry to blond and boyish to dark and sultry. Karen Mulder was a great favorite of mine as she was always charming and in good spririts despite harrowing work hours during fashion week. One season I made 16 embroiderd evening dresses and one of the pieces was a mini combi-short in midnight blue silk organza and no model would wear it except Karen who even made the cover of Elle Magazine wearing it ! Naomi was much nicer than she is given credit for, just a girl. Claudia was not a favorite of mine for divers reasons. 

The work hours with Karl were hard on my home life and most people who worked on this level with him skipped on home life for work life. One night Karl had an arguement with the head of the company and he walked out on what was to be a lengthy fitting of almost 40 dresses. The next night he turned up laden with shopping bags from Chanel for me and my collegue who had know him previously from Chloé. In these bags were cachmeres, silk blouses, handbags, purses and beauty products as gifts to us and he made us sit on the floor like kids at xmas and open them all! It was a sort of apology, one that cost a mint!  After two years of this routine and after cancelling five times a doctors appointment for work I decided to leave. No one leaves Karl unless fired! A few years later I decided to Apply to Parsons in New York for a teaching position and wrote to Karl to ask for a reference. Two days later a courier turned up at my door with a huge folder from Karl's Monte Carlo residence containing a letter from Karl telling me to write my own reference on his personal note paper and send it to him to sign and forward. Inside the package there was a stack of his writing paper headed ' La Vigie', his residence in the South of France. I didn't get the job at Parsons but I never forgot his kindness despite me leaving him, Karl hated change in his work environment.

I found this photo, which I like of him as since the news of his passing the internet is full of pictures of his last weeks failing to be 'himself'. It is truly sad how the press latch on the weakness. The girl to his left in white is Ines de la Fressange who was his muse at Chanel for years and is a friend of mine since working twice for her, lately creating her ready to wear department when her label started up again after a break of some years. I also worked for her in 1997, head of her creation in Paris.

This is Kristen Mcmenamy who was a wonderful girl to work with, she always rushed across to room to give me a hug when she arrived. It was said that she was Karls favorite model and she is till today as beautiful as she was was then. 

 This is Karen Mulder wearing the micro combi-short that I made for Martine Sitbon. There was 40 layers of silk organza in one of the seams! trick to make. Karen kept saying ' make the waist smaller' as she wanted to be as tiny as possible. Karen is Dutch, I particularly love the Dutch people.

This was Linda Evangelista as I knew her although as a chameleon whe could be anyone anytime. She is one of the most photographed models of all time.