RISKY IDEAS
Karl Lagerfeld, long-time friend and fellow multi-hyphenate, spoke with Roitfeld in Paris.
KARL LAGERFELD: How far can you take an image?
CARINE ROITFELD: I think that when you’re taking pictures with my principles, you can try anything. Dare to do a lot of things—dare with sexuality, dare to break taboos as long as it remains photogenic. As long as I find an elegance and beauty in it, I am not afraid to tackle anything.
LAGERFELD: I think it was Marlow who said, “There is no beauty without some strangeness in the proportions.”
ROITFELD: Exactly. I think that something needs to be weird in order to have a real beauty. Beauty can be quite boring, especially if you’re talking about beauty that doesn’t last. And what lasts is exactly the thing that maybe wasn’t pretty at first—it comes over time to be beautiful or interesting or exciting—
LAGERFELD: For example, during the golden age of movie stars, there were plenty of actresses who were deemed unattractive at the start of their careers, but struggled and finally appeared more beautiful and more iconic. Sometimes that idea of being truly iconic has something to do with not necessarily being beautiful and thus trying harder.
T A I W A N A 