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The definitive biography of fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld, written by journalist and author William Middleton, who knew the designer in Paris.
In February 2019, the world lost one of its most enduring cultural icons, Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director for the storied House of Chanel for thirty-five years. Larger than life, Lagerfeld was legendary not only for reinventing Chanel; and creating constant fashion excitement at Chloé, Fendi, and his eponymous brand; but also for his vivid personal style, including his signature uniform of dark sunglasses and a powdered white ponytail. And then there was his utter devotion to his cat, Choupette.
Journalist and author William Middleton spent years working in Paris for Women's Wear Daily, W, and Harper's Bazaar. During his time in Paris, he interviewed and socialized with Lagerfeld, coming to see a side of the designer that he kept private from the world.
In this deliciously entertaining book, Middleton takes us inside the most exclusive rooms in the fashion industry, behind the catwalk, and into a world of brilliantly talented artists, stylish socialites, and famous stars--some of the most elusive and unforgettable figures of fashion's inner circle for the past four decades.
WILLIAM MIDDLETON is a Paris-based cultural writer. He has been the fashion features director for Harper's Bazaar and the Paris bureau chief for Fairchild Publications, overseeing W and Women's Wear Daily. He is also the author of Double Vision, the first biography of Franco-American art patrons and collectors Dominique and John de Menil. ARTnews named the de Menil biography one of the best art books of the decade.
"Paradise Now... gives us in its entirety the long reign of Kaiser Karl, from his peculiar childhood in Germany to the lonely months at the end when he was secretly fighting cancer, leaving out – or so it feels – not a single one of the parties he threw along the way."
"If you have an appetite for Lagerfeld lore, “Paradise Now” will sate it and then some. But you must submit, like a child, to a candyland of escapist excess, wherein a flattered but fundamentally solitary Sun King’s Birman ca also gets, bien sûr, her own chapter."
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"If you have an appetite for Lagerfeld lore, Paradise Now will sate it and then some." -- New York Times Book Review
"William Middleton exposes both strands--the behind-the-scenes striver and the haughty sybarite--that Lagerfeld wove together into a piece of performance art that ran until his death." -- Wall Street Journal
"William Middleton's detailed and engrossing biography, Paradise Now, delves into the late designer's dazzling career, key relationships and his endearing nature." -- Women's Wear Daily
"An authoritative and admiring portrait of a fashion icon." -- Kirkus Reviews
"This is a crackling chronicle of one of the fashion world's punchiest personalities." -- Publishers Weekly
"Much to enjoy." -- The Times (UK)
"William Middleton, who wrote the must-read Double Vision, a biography of Dominique and John de Menil is back with a deeply researched, definitive biography of Karl Lagerfeld, detailing the late designer's time at the helm of Chanel and his incredible life in some of the world's most rarefied circles."
-- Town and Country