Oui.

Yes, I really liked her work. And yes, I wanted to see this woman again. That was obvious. I am not usually very forward with women, but I asked her if she was free one night to go out for a drink with me. She looked at me without speaking, then she in turn raised her finger to the yes on the wall.

86

During my previous text conversation with Marie, we’d just talked about the idea of seeing each other again. We hadn’t really talked about our lives. This time, she wrote that her new exhibition was opening in two days and she hoped I would come. Two days, I repeated mentally. I’d arrived in Los Angeles the day before, and that would mean having to leave the next day. It seemed absurd to travel all that way for such a short stay. And I couldn’t leave Madeleine here all alone. Not to mention the fact that I was writing a book about her. These thoughts collided in my head, briefly confusing me. Within a few seconds, though, I was replying that her timing was perfect because I was returning to France the next day and I’d be happy to be there to support her on her big day.

I’d made my decision, and my heart sped at the thought of it while I continued to observe Yves and Madeleine. They were deep in conversation. Madeleine seemed troubled by what she was hearing, and their faces looked a little tense to me; I had no idea what he might be telling her. Two or three times, she turned towards me, to check that I was still there. I gave a friendly wave in response. Since their discussion showed no signs of ending, I started to read USA Today. I wished I’d brought my laptop with me so I could do some writing while I waited for them.

*

INTERESTING ANECDOTES ABOUT KARL LAGERFELD (3)

We tend to remember each person’s final image. When we think of Lagerfeld, we immediately see that tall, slender man. A figure destined to become a logo. We forget that for several years the designer was overweight. It is strange seeing pictures from that era. Given the way he comes across – that aura of absolute self-control – it is hard to imagine that this man ever struggled with his weight. But he did. He even came up with a wonderful weight-loss aphorism: ‘Dieting is the only game you win by losing.’ So he saw it as a game, but who were the players? From what Madeleine revealed to me of his personality, I have the impression it was more a show that he performed for the benefit of his court of commentators. So, he spectacularly lost six and a half stone in the space of a few months. With him, everything was the stuff of legend. He couldn’t allow himself the slightest mediocrity. He worked on his diet with the same intensity he brought to his designs. He wanted everyone to talk about it. I even wondered if perhaps he’d deliberately put on weight purely so he could enjoy watching everyone’s amazement at his subsequent weight loss. He wrote a book about it afterwards. As a marketing genius, he made his body a bankable image. Didn’t his silhouette end up on cans of Coca-Cola? That is what I find most fascinating about Lagerfeld: he himself was his greatest creation.