Karl Lagerfeld — "People Think I'm On an Ego Trip But I'm Not"

>> The International Herald Tribune is hosting its 10th annual luxury conference in London, where Suzy Menkes grilled Karl Lagerfeld earlier today on his thoughts of himself, his fellow designers, and his legacy. A few highlights, below.

On who the real Karl Lagerfeld is: "I am a cocktail."

On the current Hermes situation: "If you don't want to be taken over, don't put your business in the public market. Stay private like Chanel."

On designing: "I love my job. I have no idea of what it means to take yourself seriously. You have to be detached."

On the pecking order at Chanel: "Nobody tells me what to do at Chanel . . . I am there to be used. I like to be used, but only in the way I think I should be used."

On his legacy: "I was the blueprint for Tom Ford at Gucci, Alber Elbaz at Lanvin . . ."

On ego: "People think I'm on an ego trip, but I'm not. I can get out of people what they want to express but can't."

On how he embraces the digital world: "If you are against 'digital' in the world of today, you are lost . . . I don't use computers so much — they do what your brain is meant to do. But they are beautiful."

On taking from the past to translate for the future: "if you want to revive something you can't do it with respect. That's the kiss of death . . . you can only build if you destroy . . . I have no archives, I keep nothing. Other people can do that for me. I like now."

On his longevity: "I never think of what's going on after me. I never think of what's next. I only think of the moment."

On the recent onslaught of Chanel films: "I don't like the movies about Coco Chanel."