# 272: Karl
Story behind the Passage
Karl Lagerfeld is one of my biggest roles models. There you go — now it is out. He is one of the few people on this planet who really walked the talk and he resisted all mainstream ideas and temptations. Sure, it is tempting to satfisfy your ego with a big company, a big label, many employees. This is what entrepreneurs usually want. Artists usually do not want this because they have problems with business in general. Art should not be instrumentalized and artists have very different personalities than business people, bla, bla... Hence: artists are generally not interested in founding and growing a business. At least, in general, of course.
Karl was different.
But he was different in a way that the very concept of different was redefined.
He was different in a different way than most people who either claim or want to be “different.”
Karl had a stout sense of business that reached beyond sensing fashion “trends” and having a feeling for the zeitgeist. He was willing to create stuff that sells and that is fashion. And above and beyond everything else, he knew one thing better than most other people on the planet: himself! He was aware of his strengths, his weaknesses, his needs, and his preferences. And he never traded these for anything. Well, maybe he did and I just do not know about it. Who am I to be talking about him anyways? I did not know him personally. I only know whatever I know from books, articles, and movies with and about him.
And you know what?
That at least was enough to raise true fascination and admiration.
And these two aspects are the major reasons why you learn from someone.
One can learn a lot from Karl.
Especially in dialogues as the ones found in the book by Sahner.
My Learnings
“Seine Freiheit ist ihm lieber, zumal auch lukrativer und kreativer.“ Freedom is the keyword here, of course. Being independent means being free. Yes, people can now start putting together all kinds of psychograms why that is and how it is “sick” to be crazy about independence and freedom and how this relates to not trusting anyone. Or, you can be like Karl, who probably knew about all the reasons behind his longing for freedom a lot better than any shrink. Now the most important part is: He gave a shit! He realized this and in the Buddhist and spiritual enlightenment way accepted it without making a big fuss about it. Even more: He thrived on it and was not tempted to ever give it up. Not in his professional life and not in his private life either.
That is what courage is all about.
Standing up for who you are.
And integrating the people and things you love in your life without even talking about it.
The way in which freedom can be “lucrative” and “creative” in this sentence might look odd at first but there is a logical connection. Especially as an artist, your creativity determines everything else. If that needs an extra portion of independence to unfold, it is clear how that relates to output and ultimately the money you make. Karl made a lot of money but I am also very sure that he was generous and shared his wealth with the people he loved.
And I do think he loved himself in the end.
Even though he was very hard on himself too.
Every disciplined artist has to be.
“Dieser Name taucht als Marke erst viel später auf dem Markt auf.“ I wonder if the brand Lagerfeld would ever have come out of the box had we not had this insane branding competition in the world nowadays. Everything and everybody needs to be turned into a brand if he/she does not have that idea in the first place. But I have no idea about the details of the label and the marketing story behind it. Still, I am a 100% sure that Karl did everything that was pragmatic and promised success. And success in fashion means: People buy and wear your stuff. I do not think that he just longed for this artistic vision of creating some style or so just for the sake of writing history.
He loved reading a lot more than writing, I suppose.
His writing was sketching and designing.
His bulletin board was his mouth.
I do think this mix of healthy business rationale with his outstanding creativity was what made him humble and not crazy about personality branding. Of course, he was an artistic cult figure in and of himself. You have to be in some way. As a creative person, it is part of you this visibility. You do want to express yourself with your art because there is no other way to get out what is inside. Still, and this is something that I admire him for, he was able to infinitely produce creative products during his entire life. He did several collections in a year. He had a work output that is simply incredible. Still, he enjoyed it, and remained as creative and innovative as ever — because of his self-created and self-sustained freedom.
No matter if people knew it or not.
If they read your name on the tag or not.
You remain my favorite brand.
Reflection Questions
1) What do you remember about Karl Lagerfeld?
2) Which value is more important to you — independence or security? Are the two mutually exclusive according to your perspective?
3) Do you think that artists can be great business people? Why?