You thought socialism was just for khaki pant-wearing white male podcast hosts in their late 20s, but it's actually very High Fashion. Just ask Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld, who considers himself to be a member of the working class, at least according to a new interview published in the latest issue of New York magazine.
In a wide-ranging conversation with New York editor-at-large Carl Swanson, in which Lagerfeld holds forth on his private jet-loving cat, Choupette, the fact he has no idea what Chanel's Instagram account looks like, due to not using the Internet, and his love of cows ("I could be a farmer"), the designer indicates that he's a cog in the capitalist machine, just like everyone else.
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"I think I work better now than before," he tells Swanson, when conversation moves to the possibility of his retirement plans. "My brain is clearer. And I want to work. I'm working class."
"You?" Swanson understandably asks. (Lagerfeld has a net worth of around $200 million. Also, he designs couture.)
"I said that to a French left-wing writer, he said it was a scandal to talk like this," Lagerfeld admits.
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Lagerfeld once made a similar claim to working class status in a 2011 interview with Style.com, but to be honest, the rest of the conversation makes clear that he's an unconventional socialist at best. When asked about France's recent "yellow vest" protests, he expresses no real point of view: "I don't have to have opinions about French political events." He has never voted, and has distaste for anyone who does. He also doesn't know how to make a bed, or cook for himself, due to his mother's philosophy that one should "always have to depend on people, because then you have to make an effort to have the money that they will do it for you."
On the other hand, Lagerfeld thinks it's good that young people are "freer" and "more informed" these days. He also says he understands why they're out in the streets protesting: "You know, if you know the money they have to [make it through] the month, you understand. It's horrible, no?"
Monsieur Lagerfeld, bienvenue to the resistance.
Photo via Getty