All language subtitles for The.Mysterious.Mr..Lagerfeld.2023.720p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.GG - YTS.BZ]

[hubbub]

Downloaded from
YTS.BZ

Karl's image was iconic
and he knew it.

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.BZ

He had to invent
this personality,

and so he played with that.

[pensive music]

You recognize the man
with the ponytail,

the glasses, and the collar.

You could even just have
those three elements

and it works.

Karl is a [bleep] icon.

And he'll always be an icon.

[Karl]: My job
is to make-believe.

But I have to be careful,
because you know

I can turn myself
into a cartoon.

You have to sell,
you have to kill yourself,

you have to destroy yourself.
Because then, I can rebuild.

As the world reacts
to the news that fashion icon

Karl Lagerfeld has died,
questions are being asked

as to where his $200 million
fortune will go.

Lagerfeld told an interviewer

that he would be giving
his riches

to his pet companion,
among others,

that this cat has a lifestyle
to maintain.

[narrator]:
Designer Karl Lagerfeld

was one of the most flamboyant

and recognizable figures
in fashion.

And one of the most mysterious.

His influence was immeasurable.

From the Chanel catwalk
to the high street,

he made fortunes for himself...

[buzzing]

...and the corporations
behind him.

His extravagance was legendary.

But who was the real
Karl Lagerfeld?

He said often, though,

he was like a marionette.

Like a cartoon.

But he knew this marionette
he was creating

was to hide something.

[narrator]: This is a story
with unique access

to his inner circle,

many talking for the first time

to reveal the true face

of the man behind
the sunglasses.

[photographers shouting]

[theme song]

You know, whatever you did
in fashion, who cares?

I'm very, very much against

what all the designers
do now...

[muttering]

...that make retrospectives.

This, I think,
is the unhealthiest thing

in fashion ever.

Who wants to know
that you are there

for 40, 30, 25 years?

And then, they do it again.
They did it for the 20 years,

they did it for the 25 years,
they'll do it for the 30 years.

I mean, it's like going
to your own funeral.

I mean, who cares?
In fashion, nobody

wants your past, huh?

What's interesting
is to be part of the moment

and to be part of tomorrow.

But certainly not
of something that's over.

[soft bass music]

The passing of Karl Lagerfeld

at the age of 85 leaves a hole
in the world of fashion.

Simply put, he was the most
prolific and influential

designer of his time.

To many people, Karl Lagerfeld

was the last iconic designer
of his generation,

and his death marks the end

of an era across
the fashion world.

[Françoise]: Après moi,
le déluge.

He always said, "No, I don't
want anything for my funeral."

No ceremony, nothing.

He refuses that.

He does not want to think
he disappears.

Right. That's it.

He just continued to do
the collection up to the end.

I mean, who does that?

I swear we called him
the Kaiser.

King Karl.

[narrator]: All the intimates
were there.

Sébastien the bodyguard.

One of Karl's best friends,
Princess Caroline of Monaco.

Male models Baptiste and Brad,
along with his sons,

and Karl's godsons,
Jameson Karl and Hudson.

They've all gathered to honour
Lagerfeld's legacy.

But behind the scenes,
there's an unspoken question:

who did he leave his money to?

No one knows who will get what,

and whether
his famous cat Choupette

could get the lion's share.

[jazzy music]

If you have children,

everything is written
in the law,

so you don't have
to do anything.

But if you don't have children,
you'd better have a will.

[interviewer]: And in
Karl's case, there is a will.

Yes. I think
it's public information.

I will not tell you
what is inside.

[interviewer]: Do you know?

Of course I know.

[laughs]

[interviewer]: Could you tell me
anything, Celine?

You can ask somebody else.
[laughs]

[photographers shouting]

He never talked
about his debts.

He never talked about money.

He never talked about what
he's going to do with the money.

Of course, we can see
he lived like a king.

His paintings, his apartment,
his house, you know,

there were so many things.

But I don't know what's happened
with his money.

[curious music]

Sébastien?

[Carine]: I heard that
there was a testament,

and the names of seven people,

but we don't hear really
what's going to happen.

[narrator]: One person
who knows more than most

is Lagerfeld's right-hand man
and bodyguard.

And now, you really need
a wetsuit.

[interviewer]: Yeah,
you need a wetsuit today.

Yeah.

It's better.
- To keep fit.

I try!
[laughs]

But I'm not bad
for 47, nearly 48.

[bright orchestral music]

I was paid to keep his secrets,

to make everything going well.

My mission was to make his life

going to a tapis volant,
you know?

[interviewer]: A flying carpet.
- A flying carpet.

That means,
everything has to be done

or run to not have problems.

[whistles]

[classical music]

He believed in me.

To be still there, you know,
after 20 years.

To be the last one close to him.

Because he didn't want
someone else at this moment.

For me, Saint-Tropez
was for rich people.

I had nothing to do there.
I was not coming from that.

Until the times
I went there with Karl.

And Karl, he asked,
"You should have a house there."

Na-na-na-na... I said,
"But Karl, yes,

I would love
to have a house there,

but how would you want me to do?
It's not possible for me."

Tu vois?
He said, "Yes, look for a house,

I will help you." You know?

And, like, it's like that,
and I have my house.

[interviewer]: So,
he was very generous?

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

He was generous with everyone.
All the people around him.

- Even my servants, so...
- Yeah.

They are spoiled like family.

They get apartments, houses,
cars, and everything.

You know, they do more for me
than anybody else.

I, except sketching,
don't know to do anything.

I'm totally stupid.
I don't know how to cook,

I don't know how to clean,
I don't know nothing.

[interviewer]: But tell me
about, then, the will.

He put some different names,

and he did 30%, 20%,

20%, 20% for one,

and the rest for just
three people or four people.

Like, that's it.

[interviewer]: And are you
one of those names?

Yeah.
Like Baptiste and Brad.

[curious music]

Brad was very close to Karl.

And after Brad, it was Baptiste,
you know.

I think Karl has a special link
between them, you know,

that I didn't have with Karl.
It's something different.

They were more close
in a few years

than people who were there
already for 40 years.

[narrator]: In fashion circles,

they would be known
as Karl's muses,

a source of inspiration.

Often, they would all appear
on the runway together.

But the closest to him
were Baptiste and Brad.

[♪]

Nowadays, Brad Kroenig
and his wife Nicole

are real estate agents
in Florida,

where they live with their sons
Hudson and Jameson Karl.

All right, Jame,
have a good game.

Yep.
[Nicole]: Have a good game, buddy.

First time I met Karl
was in Paris,

at a private airport,

and I was doing
a shoot with Karl,

I think it was me
and a couple other male models.

So, in fact, you met him
on the private plane.

Yeah. I think that's
where I did meet him.

And we all flew down
to South France

to Biarritz,
where his house was.

[lounge music]

He had a huge compound, I think,

of like four or five
different houses on it.

You gotta take a golf cart
from one house to the other.

And he had this beautiful pool,

all black-slated underground.
It was really cool.

We did a shoot there
the next day.

And we had an instant connection

because the other two
male models,

I think he photographed them
for five minutes,

and he shot me
for like 12 hours.

So, right from the get-go,
we had a great connection,

from model to photographer.

[interviewer]: And can I ask
a direct question?

He left a will. Can you tell
anything about that?

Yeah, I'm not sure of any
of that stuff, really. Um...

He never really talked
about death.

He never really did.

I think it was kind
of a negative topic,

so he just didn't wanna
bring it up.

There was never really any
negative talk about anything.

He was always upbeat, positive.

It's hard to do. But somehow,
he got away with it, you know.

- Oh, Mr. Hudson.
- Ah!

[Karl]: Mr. Hudson, how are you?

[speaking French]

[overlapping chatter]

[narrator]: Hudson, Brad's
elder son, was Karl's godson.

Oh, it's for Choupette.

You have to give it
to you and Choupette.

You come to the house and give
it to Choupette yourself, huh?

Huh? Huh? It's okay.
- Hmm. Yeah.

- Do you like that?
- Oh. I like that, yes.

That's for me. I got it.

Ritz Kids?
Oh, you got it in the Ritz.

- Yeah. That's from hotel.
- Yes, I know. Yeah.

[laughing]

You have to say thank you
to this lady called Celine.

- Okay.
- Celine. Her name is Celine.

Ask for Celine.

[rhythmic music]

[narrator]: But then, a rival

for Karl's attention
appeared on the scene.

Today, Baptiste Giabiconi

is preparing for
a raunchy photoshoot.

- Helen, how are you?
- Good, oh!

Nice to meet you.
Good to see you, eh.

Good to see you too!

- You too.
- It's been ages.

Hi, everybody! Hi, hi.

Take it off...

Right, yeah. Check the hair.

You really are beautiful.

[chuckles]

Yeah, that's great. Beautiful.

[♪]

[in French]

Cool, okay! Yay!
[chuckles]

Cool!

Okay.

Oh, that's very cool.

Rockstar.

[narrator]: And then,
another beautiful creature,

who was to win Karl's heart,
came on the scene.

[jazzy music]

One day, Baptiste,
he asked Karl to keep his cat

during his holidays.

And we were all, like, shocked!

He had the cat
for the Christmas...

the New Year holidays.

[♪]

And after that, that starts
to be, like, crazy.

[chuckles]
Crazy.

[Karl]: I never thought
that I could fall in love

with an animal like this.

A friend of mine,
"I'm leaving for two weeks.

Could you keep it
for two weeks?"

When he came back, I said,
"I'm sorry, Choupette is mine.

I don't give Choupette back."

And Choupette became
a world-famous stallion.

She has her own fortune
from things she did in Japan,

and in Germany, for cars
and things like this.

And wherever I go,
somebody, children,

telling me,
"How is Choupette?"

[rhythmic music]

[narrator]: Karl turns Choupette
into a superstar,

with an estimated fortune
of 3 million euros.

Considerably more
than many supermodels.

We've got some products
of Karl Lagerfeld.

That's only a sample.

[interviewer]: There really
are a lot.

Hundreds. Yeah.

This is, I mean...

This is a little wallet
representing Choupette.

There is, um... what do we have?

We have... a little figurine
down by Doki Doki.

[interviewer]: Is that Japanese?
- Uh, I think so, yes, yes, yes.

Apparently, that's worth
a fair bit.

- Oh, really?
- Yes.

"The Private Life of
a High-Flying Fashion Cat."

[interviewer]: You were
Choupette's lawyer?

No. Under French law, um...

the image right of an animal
belongs to the owner.

[interviewer]: And can't
own a pet

if you're dead?

[laughs]

That's a good start.
[laughs]

[Lucas]: Choupette Lagerfeld
was very important to people.

They wanted to know what was
happening to Choupette

after the death
of Mr. Lagerfeld.

[interviewer]: The will
is a rather complicated thing,

isn't it?

It's very complicated. That...

I probably don't have
all the answers,

and I don't have
all the answers,

and I think we'll know
once it's concluded.

And people will speak out.

Right now, it's very secretive
and very closed. Closed doors.

[interviewer]: You know,
in James Bond...

[laughs]

Should we go and see her?
- I think we should go see her.

Yeah, yeah, let's go.

[jazz music]

[indistinct chatter]

You have to see her. You would
fall instantly in love with her

because she's unbelievable.

With those huge sapphire eyes,
very coquette,

and she's overgroomed
and everything.

She's like a chic lady,
like a Catwoman,

with a personal maid.

[interviewer]: Ah, la voilà!
- Voilà! Ma Chouchou!

[indistinct chatter in French]

[♪]

And she gives something
magical that, I understand,

the Egyptians from

4,000 years
before Jesus Christ,

for them, the cat was
the most important animal.

I understand that.

And she gives energy,
it's very strange.

When I have her next to me,

I feel like a telephone
that is recharged.

[pensive music]

[narrator]: Choupette's
former home,

overlooking the river Seine,

where Karl lived for 11 years,

above his ever-curious
first-floor neighbour.

The shutters were
never opened.

[interviewer]: Really?
- Never opened.

Day and night, closed like that.

The lights were on
24 hours a day,

every day.
[interviewer]: Wow.

Whether he was there
or if he wasn't there.

And the other windows
give onto the Seine.

The whole looks of Louvre,
the... you know.

Paris.
[interviewer]: Why don't you?

Well, because he didn't...

He didn't leave me
the apartment!

[laughs]

[interviewer]: To whom
did he leave the apartment?

Nobody knows.
It's a big, big, thing.

The apartment is sealed.

The only thing set up
and taken out are the books.

That's the only thing
they took out.

Here we go again.

They're clearing
Karl's apartment.

God knows what that is.

I heard it was books,
but I'm not sure.

I don't think
it looks like books.

They're here for about
two weeks, I was told.

I'm an antique dealer.

And I met Karl when I opened
my first shop in 1979.

And then, I never saw him again.

Then, I moved in the building.

I didn't know he lived here.

And one day, I was coming out,
and he said,

"Juan, hi! How are you?
What are you doing here?"

And I said,
"Well, I just moved here."

And he had a lot of people
who worked for him.

He had a chef who cooked
for everybody.

He had two...

well, he had Sébastien
who was his right-hand man.

[classical music]

He was very nice.

Always very polite,
always very nice.

Very friendly.

[narrator]: Sébastien first met
Karl as a 15-year-old,

on a job at his school holidays
with his stepfather,

who was an antique
furniture mover.

At the time,
Karl was living here,

a private house
in the centre of Paris

known as Hotel Pozzo.

When we arrived there,
I was thinking I was arriving

to the Château de Versailles.

For me, this kind of thing
was like... never seen.

I was, like, very young,
full of life,

and I was asking everything
in the house.

We were doing moving things,
but he was next to us,

I was asking about the...
history of the furniture,

about the history of the book,
about the... you know?

And that was making
a lot of fun for Karl.

And, well, I became not close,

but we had something
together, you know?

[narrator]: Some of Karl's
greatest extravagances

were his homes

and their priceless
18th-century furniture.

What is it about
the 18th century?

One day, I saw in a gallery,

when I was four or five years
old, a painting,

depicting the dining room
in the château de Sanssouci.

And I saw that it is a way
life should look,

and that I was born too late.

I like the style. I like
the design of the houses.

I like the concept of
their lives and the spirit.

[narrator]: Artist Patrick
Hourcade first meet Karl

in 1976.

[Patrick]: I help him a lot

to discover all this
18th-century period.

That's why we have
a fantastic relationship

from the beginning.

[interviewer]: Patrick,
what do we have here?

Um...

It is a bedroom, as you see.
[chuckles]

And this bed has a long story.

This is an 18th-century
military bed.

[interviewer]:
For how many people?

One.
[interviewer chuckles]

It's a king size for single.

[wheezing laugh]

[interviewer]: Was that
appropriate to Karl?

And Karl was sleeping
always alone.

And I was sleeping always
alone in another bedroom.

The second thing,
which is important,

is the bookcase you see there.

Not because the furniture,
but because what goes over.

In there, I hide... not hide.

I keep the ashes

of the mother of Karl
during two years.

[interviewer]: So, that's where
the ashes of Karl's mother...

When I decide
to divorce with Karl,

I give back the ashes.

And I wrote to Karl
very strictly, and I said,

"Karl, this is the ashes
of your mother.

I hope you'll be
very happy now."

And he sends me back
by fax nine pages,

telling me that
he will be never happy.

And he was very disappointed

about, you know,
our relationship.

So... It was...

I kept the letter.
It was between crying,

and nostalgia of the past.

[classical music]

No, I had a nice childhood

in a place when the world
was not that great.

Nothing I can say against.

I'm not still recovering
from an unhappy childhood, no.

I never played with children.

I only was sketching
and reading.

I was on the best of terms
with my father,

and even better terms
with my mother.

[narrator]: Karl's older sister Christiane

left Germany in her early 20s
for America, where she settled,

and had her first child, Caroline.

They're both standing outside.

Their eyes are like this.
[chuckles]

"What are you doing?"

She's already texting me.
"Can't you call me?"

[interviewer]: Oh, really?
About us being here?

Yeah.

[interviewer]: Small town.
Everybody knows everything.

Everybody knows everybody.

That is a studio picture
of Karl and Christiane.

I think she was a tom boy.

She did describe getting in
trouble with her mother a lot.

And he was the favourite.

[narrator]: Caroline first
met her uncle in 1974,

when he paid an imperial visit.

We lived in this grey house.
[interviewer]: Ah.

And that was our driveway.

There was a fence,
so it was narrow.

The limo pulled up and took up
the entire driveway.

And all our little children in
the house and my three brothers

and myself ran out to see
what the deal was!

A limo in this neighbourhood
had never been seen before.

Never.

He was dressed so elegantly.

And he had a black beard

and jet-black hair
and talked so fast,

my mother was so happy
to see him,

and my father was, you know,
bustling about.

And here's a picture
of us just googled-eyed.

[chuckles]
There's my uncle.

There's me. My younger brother.

And I know that we were just
staring at what he was wearing.

He had on wool trousers,
that wool wide leg,

and really highly cuffed

and, like, clothes
we'd never seen before.

So, I was 13, maybe 14.

My brother was 12 or 13,

and terribly dressed in the 70s,

wearing polyester,
and we're fat Americans.

[chuckles]

He had dinner with us, and then,

he asked my parents
if my brother Karl and I

could come and visit
for the summer in Paris.

And of course, we were jumping
up and down, and...

"Please, please, please!"

[jazzy music]

[narrator]: Fashion mecca Paris

had lured Karl from Hamburg
25 years earlier.

At only 21,
Karl won the prestigious

Woolmark Prize for coat design.

In the same year that
Yves Saint Laurent, only 18,

won the prize for dress design.

They were to become
the two most influential

designers of the age,

and bitter rivals in both work,
and later, love.

[Colombe]: It's a portrait
of my grandmother

by Marie Laurencin.
But also, Marie Laurencin,

at that period, like many women,

like the Bloomsbury, my English
grandmother was more Bloomsbury,

they also had affairs
with women,

so it's a sort
of family portrait.

[interviewer]: And Karl
was interested in buying it?

Well, Karl asked me
if I still had it.

He never said...
he would never say "buy."

That's Karl.

Very young.

And that's me.

We had a fight.
[interviewer]: Ah.

- Yeah, we had a fight.
- What was that about?

Saint Laurent.

[both laughing]
- Explain.

I was wearing suits,
and not...

I mean, I used to dress
in Saint Laurent.

What that a fatal error
from his point of view?

Well, at some times,
maybe it wasn't very intelligent

of myself to be like that.

Still, we didn't speak
together for a long time.

Then, when I took over Vogue,

we laughed and we laughed,
and we said,

"Why didn't we see each other
for all that time?

It's ridiculous."

[percussive jazz music]

[narrator]: Meanwhile,
Karl had been enhancing

his reputation for inventive
and exciting design,

working for some of Paris's
top couture labels,

and busting a few taboos
in the process.

When I started working
with Karl,

I was 20 like that. 23.
[interviewer]: Ah.

I was like a strange person.

Alors, this is a portrait that
he did of me that I like.

Like a sphinge or faune.

And he called it "Le bel
indifférent" after Cocteau.

[interviewer]: Do you recognize
yourself?

I was like that, yeah

And I like myself
to be like that.

Unfortunate it's no more.

I thought actually, when
I met him, that he was Italian.

He had long, curly, black hair.

I thought he was
an Italian gigolo.

[interviewer chuckles]
Because he was so chic,

you know, for the time.
- Did you tell him that?

I told him that, of course.
And he loved it.

He thought that
it was very amusing.

[soft jazz music]

[narrator]: In the early 70s,

Karl's eye was caught
by a person

who was soon to become his muse.

[Gilles]: Jacques de Bascher
was a young man in Paris.

He was dying to meet Karl.

I met him in a party in Paris,

and I introduced him to Karl.

The image of Jacques de Bascher
pleased Karl.

He likes images, Karl.

[interviewer]: By that,
do you mean not just the way

he looked,
but what he represented?

Yes, also.

This is naughtiness
and his nightlife,

crazy nightlife,

as Karl didn't go out at night.

He was the good boy at school,
the first of the class.

Very serious.

But he found attractive people
who were the opposite.

Exactly. Exactly.
The more perverse...

[bossa nova music]

The cushion was a friend
of mine who gave it to me

and I think it's brilliant.
[wheezing laugh]

[interviewer]: The chairs
all look very comfy.

They are.
I'm a very comfortable man.

Tell me about Jacques.

I only met him once,

and I thought
he was so seductive.

But... danger.

So, I never, I never...

I never went there.

Why "danger"?

Oh, he had those two men
at the same time.

[♪]

[narrator]: Jacques had also
caught the eye

of Karl's rival,
Yves Saint Laurent.

[interviewer]: Sort of
a complicated relationship.

Oof! I imagine.
Yeah, I guess so.

But I think that Saint Laurent
was more in love with Jacques.

And I think Karl was more
intellectually involved.

One version of the story
is that Jacques was sort of

the love of Karl's life.

Yes, apparently, he was.

But the love of...
I don't know how Karl loved.

I mean, he was such
a remote person.

Even though he may have been
very nice with his friends

and all the things,
but he was, I think,

probably a very remote
and private person.

Karl and Jacques
was absolutely

the perfect love story,

and the perfect
impossible story.

Karl had a problem with sex.
He can't have sex.

And Jacques was crazy about sex.

That's why he let Jacques
going everywhere.

[chuckles]
Within many attractions for him.

I'm a kind of voyeur,

you know.
I want to watch everything.

What's going on in the world,
on TV, in the street,

in the newspaper,
I'm a paper freak.

I love newspapers.
So, I'm much more informed

than people think.

And yes, I don't go out a lot,
nearly never.

Even--
- Why not?

Because I have too many things
to do and I want to do them.

You know, there's zillion
of books I have to read,

there's zillion things
I want to look at.

There's tons of things
I want to sketch too.

I like to paint,
I like to illustrate.

There's so many things
I want to do,

there isn't so much time
for me to go out.

And you know, to recharge
your batteries,

in a job like this, you better
stay alone a lot of time.

[Caroline]: This is Jacques
in Paris in the apartment,

in our trip in 1974.

[interviewer]: And what's
he wearing?

He's wearing lederhosen.

What was Jacques like?
Tell me about him.

Oh, I had a massive
crush on him.

[laughs]

I didn't know that I did
for a few, for a week,

or a week or two, and then,
the more time I spent with him,

he was just... stunning.

What did you understand
was Jacques's relationship

with Karl at that point?

Assistant, friend?

Close friend?

He was, uh... Yeah, he was...

he would do whatever
needed to be done.

He took care of us
for a couple of weeks.

We did get to go shopping,
and I did buy dresses,

and my first pair of high heels.

I thought I was the bomb.
[chuckles]

It was Karl paying
for all this?

Yeah.
I got my first mascara.

I hadn't worn makeup.

He took me to the salon,
cut my hair,

dyed my hair,
I didn't even look the same.

But I was still a fat American.

Hadn't been to a fine
restaurant ever,

so we were in for a treat

because he took us
to restaurants,

he took us shopping.

And he stayed up all night
working, I recall that.

And after a while, he got back
into his routine.

This is him working
in his apartment.

And I ran into the room
and snapped a picture of him,

like, "Candid!"
[interviewer chuckles]

He didn't like that.

[jazz music]

Oh, we have
a lot of things here.

[laughs]
We have a lot of things here

I recognize.

So, this is my first
Chanel shoot.

I like it. Look.

It's perfect.

[interviewer]: How old were you,
can I ask?

Uh, '71, I was about 25.

Twenty... I don't remember.

[laughs]

[narrator]: The move that was
to make him world-famous

came in 1982,

when Karl was suddenly brought
in as creative director

of the legendary
house of Chanel,

which was struggling, 11 years

after the death of its founder,

Coco Chanel.

The great fashion innovator
was hired

to bring the aging
brand back to life.

He took the studio of
Mademoiselle Chanel, of course,

and he came with a new team,
totally new team.

Young team around his studio.

People always think about
Chanel as if she was

the top of fashion
all her life.

I can tell you,
after the stupid things

she said about me
and the mini skirt,

it was something people
were not excited about

because it was very middle-aged.

She was mean. Mean bitch.

I have nothing against
mean bitches,

Being quite mean myself,
that's not the problem.

He made a lot of changes.
A lot, a lot of changes.

He hired top models.
That was very new.

[jazz music]

[Gilles]: He was crazy
for Inès de la Fressange,

who started to be our muse.

And she helped a lot Chanel.

Then, Inès left,

and we had to find a new face.

And Claudia Schiffer arrived.

She gave something to Chanel
which was quite new:

her sex appeal
and her freshness.

He was very provocative.
He sent her on the podium

with a very little bikini.

And the president of Chanel
at that time, he said,

"You're sure?" And he said,

"Let me... That's not your job,
it's my job."

[laughs]

We became again a young company.

[Karl]: But you know,
my job is to make-believe.

And as long as people
think it looks Chanel,

you never thought it was Chanel
and she never did that before,

who cares?
My job is to make the image.

And whatever it is.

And those elements
can all be used

to be put somewhere

to make it look Chanel,

or whatever people think Chanel
is or was, because who cares.

That's not the problem.
The problem is

the fashion message from today.

[interviewer]: He was aware
of business.

Oh, totally.
Totally aware of business.

He didn't care about marketing,

but he was
the king of marketing.

[crowd clapping]

Because he knew where he could
stop and where he could go,

and if he was going too far,
you know. It was incredible.

Karl was a very,
very good PR person.

He's the king of
the storytelling.

[Karl]: My father,
when he was 83,

he sold his business and he died
at 90 from boredom.

I work on the music,
I design the sets myself.

Everything.

Everything.
I do everything myself.

I design the print.

I design the buttons,
the jewellery.

Look what I did. And then,
they know how to drag it out

because they have the technique
and all the proportions,

but I do everything myself.

In three seconds, like that.

When the owners of Chanel
hired Karl,

he has to be free.

So, he had the money he needed

to make the shows he wanted
to do. He was free.

[interviewer]: But sometimes,
they were quite extravagant,

weren't they? The shows.
- Yes!

And why not?
[laughs]

He can afford it!

[upbeat jazz music]

[narrator]: But Karl was not
only chief designer at Chanel,

he had the same job
in two other fashion houses:

Fendi in Italy,

and his own label,
Karl Lagerfeld.

By now, he was earning
a fortune.

But his attempt to protect it

from France's new higher taxing
socialist government

was to bedevil him
for the rest of his life,

and cause problems
after his death.

[♪]

[in English]

[classical piano music]

[narrator]: Monaco offered
not only a tax haven

where residents paid
no income tax,

but also proximity to his
friend, Princess Caroline,

who he'd known since
she was a teenager.

He liked her.
She's very beautiful.

She's intelligent.
She's a princess.

She inspired him

and he inspired her.

I think he was always helping
during the Bal de la Rose,

which was a big tradition

that she has to go through,
and charity, and everything.

You better have the best friend
that has good ideas

for the music,
for the invitations,

and who loves to party
and organizing all that.

I think they were a team.

He enjoyed having Caroline
as an image for Chanel.

She was very much
in the magazine at the time,

and she was always
dressed with Chanel,

so it was a good... I told you,

he was a marketing man,

even in his relationships.

[laughs]

[narrator]: With his royal connections,

Karl was offered a long lease

on the magnificent
villa La Vigie,

perched on a cliff overlooking
the Mediterranean.

"La Vigie" means...

The place from where
you can watch well.

From there,
you see everything, huh?

House with the view.
[laughs]

Yes, there's not a room,
it's a house with a view.

Exactly. It's a beautiful
thing here,

it's light, the air,
all the windows open.

So, there are enough other
intimate rooms of the house

that I wanted
those three rooms, like,

really one big ball room.

Very open. I thought
you'd throw some pretty

good parties here.
- Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Tell me about the people
who come and visit you

and stay here.
- I hate name-dropping.

[dramatic music]

[narrator]: La Vigie is in fact
just the other side

of the unmarked border,
in France.

The bombshell meant that Karl

would now have to pay
French tax after all.

[interviewer]: How is it
possible for an intelligent man

to not know that that house
was not in Monaco,

but it was in France?

Do you believe he didn't know
it was in France?

The house?

[classical music]

[in French]

[narrator]: Karl was forced
to sell his

beloved 18th-century furniture

to pay his tax bill.

By this time, he had already
lost the love of his life,

Jacques de Bascher,
the man he had to share

with his rival, Saint Laurent,

and had then looked
after during his final months

living with AIDS.

He never forgot him.

[Sébastien]: The first time
he really spoke to me

about Jacques, he said,

"Oh, today, it's 20 years."

I said, "20 years of what?"

[blows]
You know?

And he said, "Ah, it's 20 years
that Jacques disappeared."

Because he was talking
to me about Jacques,

about the story, about Jacques,
who was crazy,

but he was cultivated,
he was, like...

He explained so many things
about Jacques,

on his private things, you know?

He was very sad after
the death of Jacques de Bascher.

Of his mother, too.
It was at the same time.

And I think he begins
to eat a lot.

This year,
when he lost Jacques,

he was still good-looking,
you know?

And after that,
he didn't take care of this,

and he started to take
some weight, you know.

He got fat at the time, yes,

because he loved to eat.

When we were going to Germany,

we were eating currywurst,

and he was...
[chomping]

He was crazy with currywurst.

I like them too.

[classical music]

You are unbelievably thin!

Stand up, do a little
spin yourself!

60 pounds you lost.
- Yes, exactly.

In seven and a half,
maybe eight months.

I hit the feeling,
"It's time to change."

But I like better,
"Life is change."

That's why I'm in fashion.

This was really a turning
point in his life

because the image
was so important,

the TV, the social media...

J'accueille Karl Lagerfeld!

He accepts all
the television shows,

the interviews, the pictures,
it was incredible.

It was such a change
in his life.

It was a real turning point.

Euh, Karl Lagerfeld, alors...

[jazzy lounge music]

And then, he did a book!

"How to Lose Weight."

Nothing, he left nothing
to someone else.

He never stopped

thinking of something new.

That's what he did
the whole time.

He was the first one
to do H

[orchestral jazz music]

[chuckling]

Karl Lagerfeld is a brand.

In one night, the time
to do the windows,

he became extremely famous

to mainstream agents.

[journalist]: ...les trophées
sont des vêtements.

The collection was launched,

and I mean, it was... pfft!

Big thing all over the world.

People were lying outside of
the doors of the H boutiques

in New York and Paris to be
the first one to come in.

It's a huge term in fashion,

but it changed
the way of living of Karl,

truly from one day to the other.

[narrator]: Karl's lawyer Celine

also acted as his agent,
brokering deals.

She found is newfound fame
did half the work for her.

[Celine]: They were expecting
so huge demands

that they could behave strangely.

[laughs]

I received the proposal.

I did not answer right away,
and one week after,

I received the same proposal,

but it was twice... the amount.
[laughs]

[interviewer]: Twice the amount?

And I had done nothing.
[laughs]

I asked him to make a t-shirt
with the face of Karl.

It'll be sold out
in five minutes in H

He understood logo
before anyone else.

Logo is the thing
before anything else.

They love it.

That's my business card.

The name of the brand
became the face of Karl.

You don't need to read,
"Karl Lagerfeld." That's huge.

The way he dressed was so
original. He was often saying,

"I'm a kind of
Charlie Chaplin."

A book holder. I love it.

Tiens. It was a very, very,
very special way

to transform himself
into an icon.

[host]: Now, tell me about
the look, though.

I mean, look at that collar.

They are like washable
turtlenecks, they are...
[tapping]

Wait, listen! Do that again.

[tapping]
Oh, yeah, very stiff.

Yes. Because it's good
for the position, you know?

Yeah, keeps you like this.

I have a kind of...

pre-1940 German officer
feeling in my bones

and in my position--
[overlapping chatter]
- In the regimen, yes.

It's something I got.
There's nothing I can do.

Yeah, I thought it was cool
'cause it was so different,
you know? And no one did that.

But he pulled it off
as if it was totally normal.

Like, I never even...
When I saw him, I never even
thought anything.

I was like,
"Oh, it's just Karl."

That's just how he was,
you know?

[interviewer]: Did you ever see
him dressed in other things?

No, he'd always wear that,
even on holidays.

He kind of enjoyed that,
you know,

that he was mysterious
and people were interested
in him.

[curious music]

I thought he was the strangest
person I've ever met.

I thought the way he dressed
was very weird. I really did.

[narrator]: Amanda Harlech was
at Karl's side at Chanel

for the last 20 years
of his life,

and became a frequent visitor
to his many homes.

[Amanda]: I think his houses

actually often flagged up
a transformation

before he transformed.

He had his apartment
in the Quai Voltaire,

which was like a spaceship.

Almost like living
in an X-ray, really.

And Karl lived in
this extraordinary twilight
shadow world.

[interviewer]: How often
did you see him?

I saw him practically
every day that he was in Paris.

Whenever he came down
or he came in,

we saw each other quite often.

But antiques were the things
that you had met over.

Yeah. Well, I mean, I think
he knew very well

he had a great eye.
I mean, he's had a great eye
for all periods.

I mean, he went from
18th century to his apartment upstairs,

now it's all white
with neon lights.

I think it's insane, but anyway,

that's what he did
and that's the mind he had.

The books were hidden
behind frosted glass panels,

and yet, you could see
the spines of
the books' shadows.

[♪]

I like the idea of moving.

Not being the victim
of your possessions.

What is it about the hip
and the young that attract you?

It's the reflection of
the time we live in.

If you think it was
better before... You know,

the worst thing in life is
old friends of people

you know for a long time
telling you,
"Remember the good old days."

Forget about the good old days.
[interviewer laughs]

I should make you
a present secondhand.

What's interesting is now,
because you--
If you lived--

- Now and tomorrow.
- And you think
it's better before,

then you can commit suicide immediately.

He was always working,
he was always busy,

he was always talking about
the next thing he's working on,

and he was very focused
all the time. Even on vacation,

he was working 12 hours a day.

He's working on sketching,
and working on reading

and his next concept,
his next show, and he would
come out to lunch

and tell us what
he's working on,
then after lunch, he'd say,

"I gotta go to work,"
and he'd work 'til
9-10 o'clock at night.

Then, we'd have dinner,
and then, we'd go to town
every night at 12 o'clock,

1 o'clock for a drink,
get home at 2, and then,

he would stay up
2-3 o'clock reading, you know,

returning faxes,
texts, phone calls.

If he had a cold, he would not
bring it up,

he would just push through

and act as everything
was normal.

So, he really was
an incredible strength

when it comes to that stuff.

He rarely showed weakness
at all, ever.

'Cause he was always
interested by youth and by new.

He was interested by
what was new.

He let the other ones get old.

He never wanted to be old.

He didn't like
to speak of age,

and when I speak of my age,
he says, "Stop."

[in English]

He was surrounded
by young people.

He didn't like to see
all the elder people.

That's why perhaps he didn't
like to speak of my age.

[laughs]
Because I was too old for him.

[orchestral music]

[narrator]: Karl was hardly shy

in expressing
his controversial views,

getting into hot water over
remarks about Adele's looks,
amongst others.

Do you think that women
are enslaved, in a way,

by the fashion industry's
insistence on women being thin?

Yes, but I see it like
a normal evolution, you see.

You mean, it'll be okay for
women to be fat in the future?

- I'm afraid, yes.
- But not okay now?

No.

[orchestral music continues]

[narrator]: Brad was only 23
when he met 70-year-old Karl.

In a short time, Karl was
putting him in almost

all of his shoots.

The Chanel catwalk,
and in every campaign.

Brad became the world's top male
model for three years running,

and they became close.

We started doing
just photographs,

not professionally, but just,
you know, on our own,

and then after doing it
for a while, he decided to do

a book on me, so we did, uh...

It ended up being five years.

It was called
Metamorphoses of an American.

[interviewer]: What was it like
to be direct...

What was it like being
shot nude by him?

Yeah, it was...
felt natural, you know?

I mean, as a model,
I mean, it's not...

Nowadays, it's not as typical,
but back in the day,

I feel like all the supermodels,
they all were photographed nude.

So, I didn't think
anything of it, you know?

[♪]

[narrator]: But then, five years
after meeting Brad,

Karl came across
18-year-old Baptiste.

I think he found him,
he was the first one to find him

to become a model,

and after, he made him
a celebrity, let's say,

because he was using him
all the time.

It's true, he was...
He's still very beautiful.

Wow! Wow!

Attends, attends, attends!
Okay, okay...

Oui. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
that's great, that's great.

[laughing]

[in French]

[in English]

Baptiste was the only one
that, you know,

in French, you call someone
"you" or "tu."

He was the only person
I know who called Karl "tu."

Only one.

[crowd chattering]

We all figured that he had
a crush on Baptiste,

that's for sure, that he found
him exceptionally beautiful.

But I will... personally me,
I never see any...

Okay, he kiss him, but no...

Maybe make a little,
"Hey. Stop, Baptiste."
Something like that,

but nothing could be sexual
or anything, no.

People talk a lot.
Me, personally,
I never see anything.

[in French]

Oui.

[ragtime music]

Oh, it's so good.
Put it against the mirror.

[narrator]: But in the end,
the adoption didn't go ahead.

Baptiste puts that down

to the complications of
French bureaucracy.

[camera shutter clicking]

However, Karl did become
a godfather to Brad's two sons,

Hudson and Jameson Karl.

Yeah, he loved the boys,
as like they were his grandkids.

Always looked out for them,
always wanted the best for them,

always made sure they were doing
good at school, their education,

make sure they're gonna go
to good schools.

And between personal and work,
I mean,

we spent more time with Karl
throughout the year

than we did even
with our own families.

[soft string music]

[narrator]: Karl brought
the whole family over

every summer to stay with him
in the south of France.

This one, I love.

This one was in Saint-Tropez,

and whenever we would arrive,
we'd, you know,

bring something with us,
and this year, I had brought

framed pictures of the boys,
and he really loved them.

He immediately had them hung up,
and I just,

I love his smile in this one.

He just looks like,
proud of the boys,

and it's very sweet to me,
this photo.

[Jameson]: Oh, was that
at the party where we were
all holding Karl faces?

[Brad]: That was in New York.

It was like a popsicle stick
with his face on it,

and we used to carry it around.

It was a dinner in New York,

and they had one of these
at every single place setting.

I mean, Karl was a master
at marketing and PR,

and we were in Saint-Tropez
at lunch and he just said,

"Oh, do you think Hudson
can do the show?"

I was like,
"Yeah, of course, Karl."

And, you know, I had no idea
if he could or not,

I just said yeah. And, uh...

'Cause he was only...
he'd just turned two.

So, I figured it was just
gonna be a typical runway,

you know, 30 seconds down,
30 seconds back.

So, we got to the show.

It's an 11-minute walk.

They did a replica of
the Versailles Garden

in the Grand Palais, so it was
a massive set.

I was like, this is
gonna be a disaster.

And he was just, like,
professional as can be.

He asked me to pick him up,
so I picked him up,

and then, sure enough,
Karl was right, like,

it was picked up across,
all over the world,

me and Hudson
at the Chanel show.

[orchestral music]

[applauding]

What he created on the runway
was extraordinary.

Everything he built
at the Grand Palais,

you know, from the airport.

To the supermarket.

To the art exhibition.

To the reconstruction of Paris
bridge and the little shop.

To the launch of a rocket.

[rocket engine rumbling]

[♪]

To a forest.

[birds chirping]

Each time, it was like
a surprise,

and you know this
one year in advance

because it takes one year
to prepare all this stage.

He gives a sense of humour,

and people love that, because

fashion is to make
a smile on your face.

Tell us how it feels
to be here tonight.

Uh... cool. It's fun.

My favourite fashion person
is Karl.

So, this picture right here
was the first time

I ever met him, in Berlin.

[interviewer]: You wouldn't
obviously remember that, but...

Yeah. And then,
this was Sébastien.

He gave me a pair of gloves
and we were, like, boxing.

And then, over here...
- Yeah...

Um, he drew me these.

- Is that you?
- Yeah.

Looks like, "For Hudson."

I don't know, that kind of
looks like "love."

"Saint-Tropez..."
Can't read the last word,

but then, I see "Karl"
at the bottom.

Karl gave this to me
a few years ago.

I think it's really cool.

[interviewer laughing]
- Is it just a fantasy?

Yeah. I mean, it would be cool
if it was real, but...

You went on private jets
with him, but they weren't...

Yeah, no.

Private jets?

Yeah, of course, private jets.

[cabaret jazz music]

Taking everybody to La Réserve
in Saint-Tropez,

then taking everyone to Tokyo,

then flying there
and flying there,

and giving things to everyone
the whole time.

Instant, you liked something,
he bought it for you.

And he was buying for
tons of clothes,

every Saturday
or every two Saturdays

for Brad, Baptiste and I.

[interviewer]: So, you got
a lot of clothes out of him.

Yeah, of course.
[interviewer chuckling]

I'm just... It's a shame.

- Where are they all?
- They are in storage.

I need a bigger house
to put them.

[♪]

When we were with him
in a shop, he said,

"You want that? You want that?"

And he offered us.
It was absolutely incredible.

He was so generous.

He bought all my telephones.

"Which colour you want?
Black, pink, silver?"

I said, "Black is fine with me."

[indistinct chatter]

Hé, oh, oh, oh, oh!

We were requesting for
extravagant conditions.

I negotiated a huge plane
with, like,

two bedrooms, two showers and...
[chuckles]

[interviewer]: On a plane?
- Yes.

And, um...

We were on the plane
and he said,

"What do you think, Celine?
Isn't it a bit big?"

[laughs]

I remember when we used to fly
on his plane, it was funny

'cause he used to sleep
sitting straight up,

and I always used to think
it was weird

'cause I don't know anybody
that can do that.

You could never pay something
with Karl, never.

- Oh, really?
- No, never.

I think I paid for a coffee
one time for him.

It was at the Café de Flore
in Paris,

and I said, "Oh, Karl,
let me get the coffee." He goes,

"Make sure... Tip well,
darling."

[narrator]: Karl's biggest treat
for himself was to buy books,

lots of them, at this bookstore
three times a week.

Everything was very fast
when Karl was coming here.

He would come in this way,

of course, stop at
the fine arts department,

and ask what was new,

and he was like a child
in front of a Christmas tree.

[jazzy music]

Thick folders of bills,
all K-L.

September, August...

Books were food for Karl.

He had a lot of knowledge
of everything.

Portraits of
John Berger on Art.

Ancient Greek Economy.
British Drama.

He was reading all of them
so fast.

Philosophy before the Greeks.
The Rest of Us.

No other couturier
in the world is so complete
as Karl.

Dickens, Religion and Society.

He had the knowledge,
which was incredible.

He didn't have to read them
completely, he was so quick.

The Art of Nijinsky.
The Sense of Beauty, of course.

And the books
would be bulging.

And the cost that day,
the total?

The cost that day...

30,242 euros. So, you see...

And that's just one day.

That was just one day, yes.

Karl told me once that
he had 300,000 books,

and to give you an idea,

if you look at the store here,
we have 30,000 books,

so that means that he had
10 times this volume of books.

- This shop has--
- This shop. 30,000.

So, we're looking at,
there's a bit behind us,

we're looking at nearly
30,000 books?

- Yes.
- And he had 10 times that.

10 times.

That's a lot of books.

It is.

I can tell you that he was
our best client,

and he was spending between...

500 and 700,000 euros a year.

- On books? In this bookshop?
- On books. Yes.

- With you.
- Yes.

Over half a million
euros a year?

Yes.

So, you looked after him well.
[chuckles]

We loved him, of course,

but not for his money,
for his culture.

Very often, he was taking
a book

and putting it close
to his heart and saying,

"This is going to be my gift
for tonight."

And he was in love with books,
I can tell you.

And then, there was
all the books

he was offering to people.

His collaborators,
his friends, to the models,

to share his tastes
in literature or in philosophy.

I mean, did he buy books
on philosophy for young models?

Yes, he did.

And he was convinced that

they would be absolutely seduced
by it, so...

[chuckling]
- Did you ever hear whether
it worked or not?

Uh, I'm not sure it worked.
[chuckling]

But he tried,
and he kept on trying.

[classical music]

[narrator]: This extraordinary
room elsewhere in Paris

stores only part of
Karl's huge collection,

which he would often share
with Amanda Harlech.

Art Deco. That's very Karl.

Boyce, very important.

We are who he loved.

He reminded me frequently that

my knowledge of English history,
British history was really bad.

Thump came a book.

The saga of paper,
Karl's passion.

Opera... Structuralism
in Dutch Architecture.

I mean, he would smile about it.

He would never make you
feel low self-worth.

It was more an invitation.
Learn. Go.

Come on, it was like, he sensed,
like, we are blessed

to have this life force.

[♪]

He was buying books for me,

and it was,
"You should read that.
You should know about this."

All the time. He was very
generous, but he was not stupid.

To buy this kind of things
was to buy the things
to make me more intelligent.

He gave me the possibility

to not talk about only
sports or clothes,

he was giving me
the possibility to talk
about history, about art,

to talk about, you know,
all those things.

He made me love
the things around,

the history of this building,
the history of this statue,

the history of this tree,
the history of just everything,
you know?

Because he was giving you
another way to explain,

that's why he was
my best professor.

[soft orchestral music]

[narrator]: In 1992, Karl had
a special gift

for his niece Caroline
soon after she got engaged.

There was a phone call that
my mother and I made to him,

and I said,
"I'm getting married!"

And he said, "Of course
I shall make the dress."

And I was...
[stammering]

...speechless. Okay!

And this was back in the day
when we were faxing,

and sketches after sketches
after sketches came across
the fax machines.

"With all these sketches,

you will get an idea
of the dress.

I think it will make you look
thin and tall."

[wheezing laugh]

I am neither.
[laughs]

My mother measured all parts
from the head, to the wrist,

to the whatever, and I drew
my foot on a piece of paper

and faxed that to him,
and then, heard nothing.

And I wasn't worried at all.
I wasn't worried at all.

The dress did not come until
the day before the wedding.

He put it on the Concorde,
it had its own plane seat,

and it was delivered by
a driver to my house

in the middle of a snowstorm.

[interviewer]: Do you
still have it?
- I do.

- Can we see it?
- Sure.

So, this is the...

Oh, my goodness.

This is it!
[interviewer laughs]

- Wow!
- Poofy sleeves!

It's all lace. It's seven layers
of lace, actually.

- Seven!
- Explaining to me...

the seven layers.

Everyone was just waiting
to see this dress

because by then, I was
talking about it a lot.

Like, how exciting is this?

So, what was the reaction?

It was awe.

[narrator]: Karl's generosity
continued over the years,

sending gifts and money
to Caroline and her mother.

They were in contact
until the end, but in fact,

she never met her uncle again.

Can I ask a very
direct question?

Did he leave you anything
in his will?

Uh, not that I know of.

I don't think
the will's resolved.

I think you're right.

Does that surprise you?

No.

He was generous throughout
his entire life,

there was no need to... No need.

I was pleased to be
related at all.
[chuckles]

I didn't ask for anything.
I was overjoyed and surprised

that he wanted to make
a dress for me

because sure, we are distant.

There's no bitterness
or anything at all, never was.

[narrator]: The people Karl
chose to be closest to him

in his later years were also
a kind of family.

The one absolute requirement
was devotion.

Planet Karl is
black and white,

made of loyalty and friendship.

The recurrent reason of someone
disappearing from Planet Karl

was him to be betrayed.

That was the worst.

[indistinct chatter]

[Gilles]: They call me the right
arm of Karl Lagerfeld.

And he heard that some
headhunters were looking for me

for another collection.
That, he didn't like at all.

You know, after 15 years,
you need to move on.

I needed to express myself
somewhere in a way,

and to be on my own, so...

little by little,
the relationship disintegrated.

We didn't even say
goodbye to each other
when I left Chanel.

- Really?
- No.

You don't leave Karl Lagerfeld.

All the people who tried
to leave him,

then they were out,
so I was one of them.

Like Claudia at one time,
Inès at one time.

- In a way, he cut you off.
- He cut me off, it's true.

[rhythmic instrumental music]

You know Choupette, of course,
which is not a nice girl.

Very jealous girl, Choupette.
She's a mean cat, yes.

You know, for Christmas,
I give all the time like a sort
of scarf in cashmere

with something that he liked,
and he told me,

"You know, Madame Roitfeld,

Choupette, she never destroys
anything in my clothes,

but she destroyed totally
your shawl."

So, Choupette is jealous,
and when I see her sometimes,

she can bite, she can scratch
you. She's not a nice girl.

[meows]

[interviewer]: Is she in any way

a little bit of a diva?

Oh, she's a diva.
Oh, she's an enormous diva.

I've never seen
anything like this.

And if she doesn't want,
well, it's her decision.

We won't force her.

We know if she's gonna
like it by presenting,

and if she doesn't, well, it's
a no. Sorry, we can't do it.

[chuckles]

[jazzy lounge music]

[in French]

[in English]

[in French]

[interviewer]: Why do you
think Karl was so...

the English word is "besotted"?
[chuckles]

[in French]

[soft piano music]

He wants to protect him,

himself, and he did not want to
show people his real feelings.

He usually had
always black glasses,

you couldn't see his eyes,
and once, he had see-through...

Not see-through,
but they were only tinted.

So, I said,
"Karl, I can see your eyes."

And he said...

He took the glasses off,
and he said,

"Yeah, they're really sad."

[interviewer]: Why do you think
he always hid behind sunglasses?

Because he didn't really want
people to really know him,
I guess.

That's why.

Maybe not to see the real Karl.

[narrator]: Karl didn't only
hide his feelings from others,

he was secretive about anything

which could portray weakness
in himself,

which is why only one person
knew about his final illness.

That day, I was on the beach
with a friend of mine,

and Karl called me. He said,

"I have a problem."
I said, "What?"

"No, no, no, it's
difficult to explain."

[♪]

Because Karl told me
on the phone

it was impossible
for him to pee.

Imagine me, I didn't know
nothing about that, you know?

He needed an emergency
admission to the hospital,

in the intensive care unit,

because the situation
was very bad.

[in English]

I tried to explain to him
the situation,

and to tell him that
the situation was very bad

and he had to fight in order
to allow him

to survive as more as possible,

but he was not listening.
He was thinking just,

"You are the doctor, I am Karl,

I do my job, you do your job,
but please,

just do what is important,
what is right to do,

but if you try to explain to me,

maybe I will hear you,
but maybe not."

[interviewer]: Did that
surprise you?

Yes, completely. I don't know
any patient like him.

I was like a million times
more scared about

what he had than he was himself.

And he decided not
to get surgery,

it was his choice, and to try
to find the best way,

like with medicaments.

You have, like, press
everywhere in the world

who would love
this kind of story, you know?

They would be very, very happy

to get some details
of everything.

The medicine, I was putting
everything under my name,

and I made all of this like this
to protect, you know, the info.

Allô?

I was telling Sébastien
everything because...

as I could not explain to Karl anything

because I was always trying
to explain to him,

and Sébastien was always
going back to me and telling me,

"You must do it.
You must explain to him."

I said, "I tried."

He's still in front of me.

Then, "Karl, I want to tell you
something, you have to hear me."

[laughs]

Karl was a very
strong man, you know.

Physically and mentally,
very strong.

I think he never accepted.
That's why also, he was, like,

always doing things
like nothing happened, you know?

Like nothing exists on him.

[soft applause]

[tense horn music]

He was working all the time,
all the time.

He was putting all his energy
in his job.

We didn't know anything,
that he was ill.

I didn't know anything
about that.

But he faked it.

He started hiding himself,
his beard and all that.

Then, he'd show at the end,
I mean, he'd show,

but he didn't walk up at the end
of the shows and everything,

but his way of fighting was now.

[Sébastien]: Until
the last moment,

we were thinking we were
gonna find a solution.

The day before Karl died,

he said, "You think it's
gonna be possible that

I get out of here, like,
Wednesday? Or Thursday?

Then, like this, we can be
at the Fendi show."

And the day after,
12 hours after, it was done.

[interviewer]: Were you there?
- Yeah, of course, I was there.

[♪]

[in French]

[interviewer]: I imagine
the succession will be
a lot of money.

[in English]

Because of tax?

I don't know,
it's very mysterious.

The account disappeared.

You say the accountant
disappeared?

Tell me what is known
or what is rumoured.

Well, rumoured, I mean,

he had a little accountant which
was a little man

always walking
behind him like that,

sitting in the third row
of the shows.

He was always around.

Apparently, he disappeared.

He was there
for 30 years, 40 years.

- As the main accountant.
- Yeah, of course.

For me, he was very important.
This guy was respected a lot.

Like, I did until the end,
you know.

But at the end, I should not.
[chuckles]

I was really pissed.

- What do you think--
- And I'm still pissed.

[scoffs]

[narrator]: It turns out that
Karl's accountant

has moved to Switzerland,

and he can't answer any
questions due to ill health.

So Karl's presumed heirs are
none the wiser about what,

if anything,
they're going to receive.

The situation left
at the end was not very...

How to say that, tidy?

[chuckles]

This kind of big succession,
it can take 10 years or...

Really?

And you have France,
and you have Monaco.

Uh, part of
the succession is...

is managed in Monaco.

Does that complicate things?

Yes.
[laughs]

And we have a big problem
in France with the residence,
you know?

What, France or Monaco?

Yeah, yeah, that's a problem,
like this and taxes problem,

you know, and it became like...
[whistles]

Enormous, and now we are still
trying to deal with that.

How's it going?

[chuckling]
- Not too good, but we will see.

You're smiling, though,
you're keeping happy.

Yeah, I smile. I smile because
what do you want me to do?

I don't want to kill myself
because of this.

- Do you miss him?
- Of course I do.

I only... I think I am only
starting to recover.

- Really?
- And it's a long time,

three years and a half.

'Cause it was almost
a day-to-day...

We were talking almost
every morning.

What did you talk about
every day?

[laughs]

Secrets.
[laughs]

Things that you can say
only to your lawyer.

[soft orchestral music]

I mean, he changed my life,
when I met him at 23.

You know, at the time, I was
still modelling, I was
a good model at the time,

but he definitely brought
my career

to a whole other level,
which I never would've had.

It was amazing, and then,
everything he did for us,

for my family and the kids,
and the travelling,

and all the experiences we got
to have, it was like a movie.

Almost like living a dream.

- It's about to go down.
- My eyes are watering.

My eyes are...

- Here it goes.
- It looks like it's sinking.

When he passed away,
I think I was almost in shock.

He played such an important
role in my life.

It was pretty hard.

Of course, he completely
changed my life, yeah.

In good and bad reason, also.

Because most of the things,
they are good

because he gave me the chance
to make new things

and to arrive in a new world.

And I arrived in this world,
and I was on the top,

it's like to live with a lot of
things and everything... crash.

I always keep two feet,
you know, one where I'm from,

and the one where I was,
you know?

And I make the balance
like this in my life.

But you think you're still
from there,

but you're not from there anymore.

But you're not also from...
You're not from there too.

You don't know really
who you are, you know,

because at one point,
you're living in
a different world,

and it's difficult to go back.

You cannot go back
to your old world.

It's impossible.

It's impossible,
you prefer to die.

You see what I mean?
It's a difficult way.

[♪]

[narrator]: As those closest
to Karl mourn,

Choupette has already moved on.

She has a raft of marketing
appointments in her diary.

We are presenting
three products

that we've collaborated with today.

And so, one of them is
a transport travel bag

made for cats, and yeah.

She's sharing
this adventure with us.

We never know what she thinks.

It's like, she thinks.

She's always thinking about
her next move.

[orchestral music swells]

Subtitling: difuze