Julien MacDonald: Karl Lagerfeld Used To Hit Me With An Old Fashioned Black Fan

Designer and "Britain's Next Top Model" judge Julien MacDonald revealed to Vogue UK what it's like to work chez Chanel as a 21-year-old -- and be a bit abused by the Kaiser, literally:

"He used to carry around an old fashioned black fan and when you were being difficult he'd hit you with it....He'd taunt you then hit you with it -- it was all done in a joking way and never done very hard, but I do remember it quite clearly. It was his alternative to a stick I suppose. Now Karl's signature is his silver jewellery but then it was these specially crafted fans. I'm quite glad I had to deal with the fans and not the jewellery. You'd get knocked out if he jokingly hit you with any of those."

Does MacDonald know that folding fans are making a comeback?

MacDonald, who previously put his foot in his mouth after calling plus-sized models a joke, is hoping that he's asked back to appear on the UK's next season of "Top Model." He told Vogue, "Finding a top model is tough -- she has to be tall, sexy and have a dangerous personality. When Kate, Linda or Naomi walk into a room you go 'Wow'. That's what I want -- someone that blows you away. You're not going to find that person waiting at a bus stop."

Comments

[iRock]

08:14 PM on 11/04/2010

Does anyone know how Naomi looks without her weave??? She's bald on the sides.

http://theoriginalgreenwichdiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/naomi.jpg

guess she uses the phony pony to cover up her insecurities???

[Mrs Putrid Festring]

07:22 PM on 11/04/2010

mcdonald needs to lay off the botox and lip plumper. he's looking a bit clowny.

[coco51]

02:04 PM on 11/04/2010

I suppose only supermarket ailses and airports make WOW models

[bentax645]

06:22 AM on 11/04/2010

The Abused always abuse. It is a vicious cycle..."Alice Miller"

http://www.benjaminkanarekblog.com/2009/06/28/alice-miller-on-child-abuse/

[superjules]

07:17 AM on 11/04/2010

Not true. But thanks for trying to perpetuate that notion.

[trikkegirl]

11:37 PM on 11/03/2010

"You're not going to find that waiting at a bus stop."

I'd have to disagree with that one. Cuz there's this cocktail waitress I know of in a little town called Roswell who is part young Brooke Shields with a little Cindy Crawford thrown in and even though I've seen her often I still go "Wow." I understand she does a little modeling, but keeps the barmaid job as well. If I knew anyone in the business, I would send them directly to my favorite watering hole to snap her up and whisk her off to New York.

[inneresting]

08:56 PM on 11/03/2010

Fool. You're not going to find that person waiting at a bus stop? That's how his beloved Kate was found. And Gisele was found chowing down at Mcdonalds. Pretentious snot.

[XLintLuvR]

06:28 PM on 11/03/2010

Looks like the base of a good poker hand. I see a pair of queens.

[JenniferEccles]

05:41 AM on 11/04/2010

Indeed.

[Sabrina DAmico]

06:08 PM on 11/03/2010

First of all, Naomi Campbell...was she not discovered by a bus stop on a street in London? Anyway, I've always been turned off by the Chanel brand first because I sat through later interviews of CC, then because I sat through interviews of KL. The only designer items I buy are cosmetics/skincare but I just don't go anywhere near a Chanel counter just because of a negative brand image that KL (especially) created for me. He's a walking parody of himself.

[DSevere]

11:44 PM on 11/03/2010

It is true, though, that while the various "Top Model" shows have launched some successful working models (mainly from Top 5 runners up, not the winners), the show has yet to produce a real top model. I think mainly because they pay too much attention to the models' personalities and ability to do TV commercials (whereas a lot of successful models from Brazil and Eastern Europe barely speak English, so this is not a requirement in the real world...)

[johnnygoodwud]

05:37 PM on 11/03/2010

hmmm, so karl was into s&m. gee who would have thought with those get-ups he wears.

[JScott]

01:35 AM on 11/04/2010

Didn't say tho what kind of fan, might been a japanese paper one or or an electric pedestal one from Cinni or a ceiling one from Hunter or one of those battery powered pocket ones from Spencer Gifts.

[carrieanna]

04:58 PM on 11/03/2010

Wow, that actually makes KL sound more human than he appears. To be casually joking and almost touching someone like that is surprising. He comes across as almost a germaphobe who would feel more comfortable inside a plastic bubble and only giving abrupt comments to his minions.

[Republitarian]

04:52 PM on 11/03/2010

He should have knocked that mean old queen on his arse.

[napasonoma]

07:08 PM on 11/03/2010

Which one to which

[Fudgefase]

04:56 AM on 11/04/2010

Pool of jello at dawn - and guys, both wear your clothes please! Come out fighting K and J.

[crayola 08b]

04:24 PM on 11/03/2010

isn't looking like the ghost of michael jackson abuse enough?

[Hardyman1966]

08:38 PM on 11/03/2010

That's wrong on so many levels I'm going to have to forward it to everyone I know. :)