Karl Lagerfeld's First TV Appearance: 21 Years Old And Nervous (VIDEO)

Fashion flashback! YouTube user sethivarova found this amazing (albeit silent) clip of designer Karl Lagerfeld before he was known as the "Kaiser." And before he was rocking his signature ponytail-and-sunglasses combo. The short video is from a 1955 coat design competition at which Lagerfeld took second place (YSL beat him).

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Comments

[Brian Gorrell]

07:25 PM on 01/13/2010

Misogynist.

[olivesforbreakfast]

09:26 AM on 01/14/2010

what can be said in a world without nuance?

KL was not so much defending the status quo as explaining it.

do you really think as a gay man he particularly cares, on a personal level, whether women are fat or thin? (i am assuming you are referring to the latest flap about thin models, fatter models, and their ability to sell merchandise.)

someone like charlie sheen, george clooney, or brad pitt -- the list is endless -- only date and marry thin women and no one bothers to stop and call them misogynistic....

[olivesforbreakfast]

03:14 PM on 01/13/2010

Was there no sound on this video? too bad?

re Karl. he is brilliant. i just read alicia drake's book, the beautiful fall, about paris in the 70s. apparently karl fought hard for the book to be withdrawn from sale in france; he sued her to stop distribution in france, etc.

yet despite drake's exploration of various eccentricities in his life, which understandably karl might not have wanted revealed, he came off as an incredible, extraordinary person, an incomparable creative talent with amazing taste and vision.

yves saint laurent was the other focus of the book. in my view, karl had ten times the talent of ysl. no. i take that back: he was 100 times the talent. the man is pure genius.

you can even see his eyes flashing in this silent clip. sound or no sound, i was happy to see it. it is a treasure in its own right..

[starrianna]

01:46 PM on 01/13/2010

Goes to show that Karl Lagerfeld has strained to remain relevant for 54 years. That video might as well have had dinosaurs roaring in the background.

Sorry, girlfriend.