On this week’s special episode of Tell Me Why, podcast host Maria Botros explored the world of fashion with Pier Paolo Righi, the CEO of Karl Lagerfeld, who spoke about how his journey began with the brand and his relationship with the founder.
Pier: Karl’s motto was always ‘embracing the present, inventing the future’
The brand has ventured in areas such as residential and hospitality to invent the future, said Pier
Pier: Karl always loved Dubai because the city was always about embracing the present and inventing the future
Karl’s creativity stemmed from the genuine curiosity he had, and he allowed himself to be inspired by others, said Pier
Pier: For Karl, the people he worked with were family because for him it wasn’t a concept of work, it was a concept of life
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #podcast #karllagerfeld
Pier: Karl’s motto was always ‘embracing the present, inventing the future’
The brand has ventured in areas such as residential and hospitality to invent the future, said Pier
Pier: Karl always loved Dubai because the city was always about embracing the present and inventing the future
Karl’s creativity stemmed from the genuine curiosity he had, and he allowed himself to be inspired by others, said Pier
Pier: For Karl, the people he worked with were family because for him it wasn’t a concept of work, it was a concept of life
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #podcast #karllagerfeld
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NewsTranscript
00:00For Karl, the people he worked with was family, because he did not have the concept of work.
00:07For him, it was the concept of life.
00:10And as such, it was never colleagues, it was part of a family.
00:15And it really kind of went into all aspects.
00:20Like as example, we had always this year-end party where we gathered everybody together,
00:28which was extremely important to him, because he loved the smiling faces.
00:32And I remember once I picked him up from the airport to get him to the venue where we were,
00:40and he was about an hour late, so everybody was waiting for him.
00:43And so I wanted to usher him into the main dining room.
00:48And he said to me, no, no, no, don't do that.
00:50Get me to the kitchen.
00:51I said, what do you want to do in the kitchen?
00:53He said, like, I'm an hour late.
00:55Can you imagine what stress level that puts into for the kitchen, for all the kitchen
00:59stuff to keep the food ready for another hour?
01:03I want to apologize.
01:04I want to thank them.
01:05So he took the effort, went to the kitchen, greeted everybody and excused himself.
01:11That is who Karl was.
01:12Wow.
01:13All right, all right.
01:25Welcome to a whole new episode of Tell Me Why, which is a Gulf News original podcast.
01:31Today's episode is extra special.
01:33It's something that we have never done before.
01:36We're outside of the studio, we're breaking free, we're exploring different realms, and
01:41we are actually addressing new topics.
01:43Today we're talking fashion, we're talking construction, we're talking real estate.
01:47We're going to talk a bit about everything and how these two worlds are coming together.
01:52Joining me is Pierre Paolo, who is the CEO of Karl Lagerfeld.
01:58How are you?
01:59Very good.
02:00Yeah.
02:01Thank you very much for having me today.
02:02How's everything?
02:03How is your your stay in Dubai so far?
02:06I know you arrived in unexpected conditions.
02:09I did arrive in unexpected conditions.
02:12I was circling over Dubai airport and being told it's because of rain.
02:18That was pretty surprising.
02:19Actually, it reminded me of my very first one-on-one session with Karl about 15 years
02:26ago when he invited me to his private home in Paris.
02:31I was running through Paris and it was raining and I was pouring, soaking wet when I came
02:38into his house.
02:39And then when he was receiving me, I was wearing white pants, totally soaking wet.
02:45And he basically told me, I could have told you, white pants in the city that calls for
02:51rain.
02:52Wow.
02:53Okay.
02:54That's really good advice.
02:55I'll keep that in mind next time I go to Paris.
02:57Exactly.
02:58All right.
02:59So you mentioned that you met Karl years ago.
03:03I want you to tell us about your journey.
03:05So how did you meet him?
03:06How did your journey with the brand begin?
03:09Yeah.
03:10Well, the fun thing was actually that I was not coming from within the fashion industry.
03:15I worked for 20 years in sports.
03:17I worked for Nike for more than 10 years.
03:21And then I've been asked whether I would like to become part of a different venture, namely
03:28the Karl Lagerfeld Fashion House.
03:29So I did not really expect, know what to expect.
03:34And so I knew I liked the idea, but I did not know Karl personally, of course.
03:40And that specific moment that I was telling you before about that rain moment when he
03:46invited me to his house was a life defining moment for me.
03:50Why?
03:51Because he invited me to his place.
03:55We had lunch together.
03:57And it was about two hours lunch where he was talking about people, places to go, literature,
04:05history.
04:06He was moving all these aspects of his life together to a bigger canvas in a very, very
04:13inspiring way.
04:14And then he asked me, can I show you my home?
04:20And well, then you wonder, oh, wow, of course you can show me your home.
04:24Of course.
04:25Yeah.
04:26It was very life defining.
04:29Why?
04:30Because he took me for more than an hour through each individual part of his place, even through
04:36the living room, the bathroom.
04:37He explained to me why he used which scents, why the colors of the walls were as they were.
04:45And he gave to it all a meaning in a very effortless way, which was basically a mirror
04:51of his life and his personality.
04:54And with this, an invitation for me to become part of this life.
04:59And that was life defining for me.
05:01First I thought, oh, I embark a new business.
05:03But what I basically did is I embarked a new life and a new venture.
05:08That was my starting point.
05:09And ever since I have been on that venture, and yeah, proudly taking his legacy into the
05:15future now.
05:16Yeah.
05:17I mean, that's beautiful because the person you're describing is someone that finds art
05:21in the littlest details.
05:23I mean, what you're describing is that he even he spoke about the beauty of the materials
05:27he used in what room.
05:29I mean, that's a true artist.
05:30You know that he's not just one that just makes decisions haphazardly.
05:35There is a meaning behind everything he does.
05:37Absolutely.
05:38Absolutely.
05:39And I think it very much stems from a genuine curiosity that Karl had.
05:45So he never thought, oh, I knew it all.
05:49And I tell you, that was never what he had in his mind.
05:53He always thought, there is so much more to understand and to find out.
05:58And then maybe there's a way to apply it in a different way in what I'm doing.
06:02So his curiosity was really about people very much.
06:07He very much took a lot of inspiration by being with other people across countries,
06:15across different areas, not fashion people, kind of beyond, be it artists, be it intellectual
06:22people, be it people that had a broad history.
06:26There was huge curiosity, and I think he was building everything on this curiosity for
06:32life and for people.
06:34Right.
06:35I mean, it's no lie that this isn't the first time I hear that Karl was very involved with
06:39people.
06:40I mean, just speaking with Caroline right before we started recording, she mentioned
06:45how he truly believed in having a workforce that serves as a family.
06:52I mean, the people come together.
06:54It's not about just people doing different roles.
06:56No, they all come together in one body in unison to get the job done.
07:01But it doesn't so much feel like a job.
07:03It just feels like a huge family.
07:05Like a huge family.
07:06Absolutely.
07:07And I feel like that's a huge part of his legacy.
07:09Absolutely.
07:10For him, for Karl, the people he worked with was family because he did not have the concept
07:17of work.
07:18For him, it was the concept of life.
07:21And as such, it was never colleagues.
07:23It was part of a family.
07:26And it really kind of went into all aspects.
07:31Like as example, we had always this year-end party where we gathered everybody together,
07:38which was extremely important to him because he loved the smiling faces.
07:42And I remember once I picked him up from the airport to get him to the venue where we were,
07:51and he was about an hour late.
07:52So everybody was waiting for him.
07:54And so I wanted to usher him into the main dining room.
07:58And he said to me, no, no, no, don't do that.
08:01Get me to the kitchen.
08:02I said, what do you want to do in the kitchen?
08:03He said, like, I'm an hour late.
08:06Can you imagine what stress level that puts into for the kitchen, for all the kitchen
08:10stuff to keep the food ready for another hour?
08:13I want to apologize.
08:14I want to thank them.
08:16So he took the effort, went to the kitchen, greeted everybody and excused himself.
08:22That is who Carl was.
08:23Wow.
08:24That's unbelievable.
08:25Just the humility and the fact that he, I mean, he was an iconic figure and we cannot
08:31deny that.
08:32And just feeling like, you know what, we're all humans at the end of the day.
08:35And these people have put in the effort and he wanted to show that appreciation.
08:39I love that.
08:40I absolutely love that.
08:41And I don't think we would know that unless we heard it from people from within.
08:44Yeah.
08:46No, no.
08:47Yeah, I think you're right, because also Carl did not have a huge, how can I say, interest
08:54to show his personality to a broad audience, because I think he has been so warm and also
09:01vulnerable that for too many people, he appeared very cold.
09:08You know, the way how he portrayed himself, you know, the shades that covered his face.
09:14His face.
09:16Stale appearance.
09:18So I think he also liked to shield himself from too much emotion.
09:25And he was a very, very warm hearted, very empathetic person.
09:32And at the same time, he had to protect himself a bit.
09:34That's beautiful.
09:35That's beautiful.
09:36You mentioned earlier that it was everything for Carl meant more.
09:40It meant life rather than just a task.
09:45Tell me how his legacy continues after his departure.
09:49Yeah.
09:50So the great thing is that we have been able and blessed having been not only working with
09:57Carl for many years, but actually being part of that spirit, that culture, that soul and
10:06that way of working.
10:07And this is how we have built a very own culture of his house to ideate, to create, to develop.
10:18So basically, in 2019, when Carl passed away, it was a moment where everything could have
10:26gone wrong.
10:29And everything went perfectly right.
10:32And it went perfectly right because everybody understood that from that moment on, we were
10:38the sole custodians of his legacy, the only house that carries his name at the doorbell,
10:45which basically meant that all what we got and learned from him about the culture of
10:52going about doing things was something that we will and can continue into the future.
10:59And that is still what we're doing.
11:01So everything we do, we ask ourselves, would Carl be proud of it today?
11:07Oh, that's amazing.
11:08So it's sort of like he facilitated the path for you guys.
11:11Exactly.
11:12And you just, it was your responsibility to either continue it or, you know, as you said,
11:17turn it into something that might may have caused a drop in the brand.
11:21Exactly.
11:22Exactly.
11:23So if you think about as example, today, we're here in Dubai, there is Caroline Lubar.
11:28She is the head of communication and image of the house.
11:33She has been working with Carl for more than 30 years.
11:37She has been part of almost all his also private projects, also architectural projects.
11:45She has been almost like his daughter.
11:48We have here today, Sébastien Jeandot.
11:50He was his bodyguard, assistant, right hand person, monsieur de confiance.
12:01Okay, his confidant.
12:02His confidant.
12:03Exactly.
12:04He's with us today.
12:05He works with the house for many years as well as an ambassador, but also in the ideation
12:11of menswear product.
12:13So it's that we continue to work as a family business.
12:19Okay.
12:20So part of continuing the legacy is remembering Carl.
12:25And I'm aware that the Met Gala 2023, basically was in memory of Carl.
12:33It highlighted his achievements.
12:35It was Carl Lagerfeld, a line of beauty, I believe was the title.
12:39And we saw some of A-list stars, you know, wear Carl Lagerfeld, you know, designer clothing
12:47or pieces, let's say artistic pieces.
12:50Can you tell us a bit more about that?
12:51How did that feel, that moment when he was highlighted at such a major fashion event?
12:58Yeah, of course, it was a very emotionally impactful moment for us as a house, but for
13:03all of us.
13:04And also for me personally, because all of a sudden, you become more or less the host.
13:12Because if you take the different houses, Chanel, Fendi, that Carl was associated with
13:18and worked for, they do not carry his name.
13:21At the end, the only house that carries his name is the Carl Lagerfeld house.
13:24So it has been a great honor and responsibility also to co-host this event.
13:31And it was a very proud moment to actually see all the lifetime achievement being honored
13:38in that moment.
13:40The same time, it was also a great moment for us to take it into the future.
13:43So our creative director that Carl picked already many years ago, Hoon Kim, he has been
13:51reinterpreting or interpreting archive pieces from Carl and basically took them into the
13:59future with Jared Leto, Cara Delevingne, Elton Mason, and many other people, Carla Bruni,
14:10that we basically kind of gave the gowns and the attires for the day.
14:18So it was in Carl's best sense of embracing the present and inventing the future.
14:23We took these archive pieces and took it to the future.
14:26It was a very proud moment for us.
14:29Phenomenal.
14:30Phenomenal.
14:31You know, you mentioned the future.
14:32Can you tell us a bit more about that?
14:33What does the future hold for the brand?
14:35Well, the future holds many more moments of curiosity.
14:38So if we venture, as example, into the area of residential or hospitality, it's not an
14:44area that we necessarily as a house have looked at like five or ten years ago, but
14:49Carl has been always interested in architecture.
14:53So we are actually also taking this into the future as it has been a part of his point
14:58of interest.
14:59We look at other areas like entertainment.
15:04We are just right now in the development of a Hollywood movie together with Jared Leto
15:10as a co-producer and starring as Carl.
15:15So it will be the curiosity about the different life areas to venture in that are not necessarily
15:23only fashion, but can easily go beyond.
15:27So actually, we will, I mentioned before, Sébastien Jandot, Caroline Le Bar, people
15:34that have been with him for many years.
15:37Also myself, we will be executive producers of that movie and basically are feeding a
15:45good part of the story content to the movie.
15:49So it will very much based on the experiences that all of us had with Carl.
15:57And today we're in an event that has to do with the real estate side and the architectural
16:04side.
16:05Can you tell us a bit more what the announcement is with Taraf?
16:09Yeah.
16:10So we're super excited to invite people to Carl's world and Carl's home, 51 luxury villas
16:21that we are building here in Dubai together with Taraf.
16:26Taraf, for us, a wonderful partner.
16:30I would compare it almost like a little bit to Haute Couture.
16:33If you are on the runway of Haute Couture, you see beautiful garments.
16:38You always praise the designer as Carl was praised for it.
16:42But Carl would be the first one to say, no, no, it's not me.
16:45It needs the craftsmanship and the capability to translate my vision into an actual well-done
16:52garment.
16:53And that is the seamstresses in Haute Couture.
16:55And for us, if you want so, the seamstress of it is Taraf.
16:59Taraf is one that extremely well has been able to take our vision and translate it into
17:06an actual project and also has the craftsmanship to develop such high-end development.
17:13And therefore, it's a great project for us to create Carl's future legacy.
17:20Amazing.
17:21Okay.
17:22Away from the business, away from the serious talk.
17:24Is this your first visit to Dubai?
17:26Absolutely not.
17:27Okay.
17:28I was waiting for that.
17:29Okay.
17:30So you've been here before because I know this visit is super short.
17:33You're leaving.
17:34It's super short.
17:35I'm actually here only for 24 hours.
17:37But if I say it's not the first time I've been many times here, it's true or not true.
17:43Why?
17:44Because every time I come here, it feels like I haven't been here before.
17:48Because in these short times that I'm not here, might be half year or might be nine
17:54months or 12 months to the max, so many things change.
17:58That every time I come here, it feels like the very first time.
18:01And that's the beauty about Dubai and why Carl also loved Dubai so much.
18:06Because Dubai is about embracing the present and developing the future.
18:11So all the time you come here, you feel a new part of the future has been developed
18:16whilst you have been away.
18:17Yes.
18:18It's forever evolving.
18:19Absolutely.
18:20Just like Carl's brand.
18:21Okay.
18:22And my last question.
18:24Do you have any other stories you'd like to share that you, I mean, anything, any funny
18:28stories that you had with Carl?
18:31Oh, maybe one story I can share because I liked it because I've been asked here also
18:37is like, okay, what is the real challenge of such a project?
18:42And I said, the challenge is to make it great, but effortlessly great.
18:49And I have a story with Carl when he was doing this beautiful show in the Grand Palais where
18:57he had this rocket that he launched and I found it was really amazing, was wonderful.
19:03I went behind the curtain and I congratulated him for it and I said, it was amazing, was
19:09a wonderful, beautiful show.
19:11And then he said, it was a disaster.
19:13I said, Carl, why would you say it's a disaster?
19:17He said, it was so great that it has to be even greater next time.
19:22And that is really very much what we challenge ourselves is.
19:28This all comes across very effortlessly, very effortless, but at the same time, it has to
19:34be always great and it has always been greater the next time we do it again.