Karl Lagerfeld is not normal. I think we all know that, but that's what makes him so amazing. He refuses to be boring, refuses to be average. He is a caricature for sure, one that would be difficult to take seriously, if not for his monumental success. Karl Lagerfeld is this months Harper’s Bazaar“My List” subject, in which he details 24 hours in his life. Here are some highlights.
On his bedtime routine:
I sleep seven hours. If I go to bed at two, I wake up at nine. If I go to bed at midnight, I wake up at seven. I don’t wake up before—the house can fall apart, but I sleep for seven hours.
On his pajamas:
I wear a long, full-length white shirt, in a material called poplin imperial, made for me by Hilditch & Key in Paris after a design of a 17th-century men’s nightshirt I saw at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
On his beverage habits:
I never drink anything hot; I don’t like hot drinks, very strange. I drink Diet Coke from the minute I get up to the minute I go to bed. I can even drink it in the middle of the night, and I can sleep.
On his hair:
I have my hair done because I hate to have hair in my face when I sketch. My hair is not really white; it’s kind of grayish, and I don’t like the color. So I make it totally white with Klorane dry shampoo. That is the best thing to do because my hair is always clean.
On his morning routine:I don’t get dressed and take a bath until lunchtime because I am doing a dirty job, painting with colors. So I wear my long nightshirt; it becomes kind of like a painter’s smock, then it goes to the laundry. I have everything—sheets and nightshirt and robes—changed every day. I like everything to be washable, myself included.
On his bath products:
When I’m ready, I soak in the bathtub, if you really want to know. I used to have a product I loved, by Shu Uemura, but they don’t make it anymore, so I found a French product that softens the water; it’s a hundred years old. I put half a bottle in the bathtub.
On exercising:
I exercise very little because my doctor said it’s not necessary. I did a lot when I was very young, and all you do when you’re young stays.
On his “uniforms”:
My latest uniform is actually two looks—a special jacket with tails made by Dior, but not what you wear for weddings. I have them made in tweed and things like this. Then I have another jacket I love from the new Dior men’s collection that I bought five of, so people think I wear the same thing every day, but in fact it’s never the same thing. And then I wear jeans; at the moment they are from my new collection. They are dark gray with my face, my profile, printed in black on them, but you really have to look at it to see it.
On what he will do with his old clothes:
I still have all my clothes from 10 years ago from Dior, but I think I will give them back to Dior for the museum. I have pieces that are unique pieces that I will never wear again, because life is different now, you know. I used to fax a lot, but people don’t have faxes anymore.
On his two houses:
I actually have two houses. This house here, it’s only for sleeping and sketching, and I have another house two-and-a-half meters away for lunch and dinner and to see people, and where the cook is and all that.
On how he works:
The way I sketch, the way I work, I prefer to do all my work in the evening or in the morning and during the weekend, and I send everything on the iPhone. I’m not there in the studio draping—I don’t do those things. My work is very conceptual.
On Choupette:
Lately, I play with my cat, Choupette. The cat always stays home, and when I leave, the maid takes care of her. The cat is like a very refined object; she doesn’t go into the street, and she doesn’t go to other places. She is a spoiled princess.
Photos: Karl Lagerfeld via Harper’s Bazaar
