Karl Lagerfeld doesn’t like to talk about the past. He refuses to discuss his 50-year career with Fendi, for whom he was made creative director, in charge of fur and women’s ready-to-wear, in 1965. Neither will he dwell on his 32-year stewardship ofChanel, where he has been the chief designer since 1983. He hasn’t even been to visit his vast “futurespective” in Bonn, Germany, the most complete exhibition of his oeuvre ever mounted, featuring everything from a reproduction of the coat for which he was awarded the Woolmark prize for design in 1954, to his first collections for Chloé (for whom he worked between 1964 and 1996), and from a regiment of mannequins dressed in Chanel tweeds, through Fendi furs to pieces from his own eponymous line.

卡尔拉格菲尔德(Karl Lagerfeld)不喜欢谈论过去。他不愿谈及自己为芬迪(Fendi)效力的50年。1965年，他出任芬迪创意总监，负责皮草及女性成衣设计；他也不愿详述自己自1983年以来担任香奈儿(Chanel)首席设计师32年的陈年往事。他甚至没有出席在德国波恩举办的自己全部时装作品回顾展“futurespective”：从他1954年获得Woolmark设计奖的那件外套的复制版到他为蔻依(Chloé)设计的首个时装系列（他从1964年至1996年为其效力）；从一大群身穿香奈儿花呢套装的人体模特、各式芬迪皮草时装到他自己的同名品牌，可谓一应俱全。

Absolutely not! For Lagerfeld, nostalgia is a creative poison. “I’m very much against it,” he says from his studio in Paris. “I’m always into the next step. I’m interested in what’s going on, not what has happened. I never look at the archives. I hate archives!”

老佛爷完全不恋旧，他认为怀旧是创意的毒药。“我特反感怀旧，”他坐在自己巴黎的工作室对我这样说道。“我总是超前一步。我对时下发生的、而不是往昔历史感兴趣。我从不看档案，我讨厌档案！”

If Lagerfeld sounds impatient, he is. His career has been built on a light-speed forward momentum. It’s the same urgent energy that has enabled him to juggle the demands of three entirely separate and visually distinct houses at the same time (Fendi, Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld) and maintain alternative occupations as a photographer, occasional writer and keeper of Choupette, a snow white cat he was given in 2011 and who now commands an Instagram following of 64,000 followers. Even his unique German accent sounds impatient; like a man exasperated by a sentence’s formulation in his mouth.

说老佛爷是急性子，一点不假。他这一生总是风风火火、永往直前。正是这心急火燎的激情，让他能够游刃有余同时担任设计风格与视觉感迥异的三大时尚品牌（芬迪、香奈儿以及卡尔拉格菲尔德）的设计师；此外，他还是摄影师、业余作家以及雪白爱猫Choupette的主人。他2011年受赠此猫，如今它拥有的Instagram粉丝达6.4万人。甚至他特有的德国口音听起来也是心急火燎，好像有人被他的说话方式激怒了一样。

His brisk focus brushes aside those things that displease him. He has already dismissed a publicist from our three-way phone conversation: “I don’t like it when someone listens when I talk to someone.” He also forgoes deep analysis of his creative ideas: “I don’t put that into words because then it would become marketing.” And too much talk of global trends is met with the immaculate: “You know, I’m not in the sales department.”

他做事既干练又专注，对不爽的事毫不留情。因转接我的电话，他解雇了公司的一位公关人员：“我不喜欢谈正事时别人在旁边听。”他也不愿深谈自己的创意理念：“我不会用语言表述自己的设计理念，因为那样俨然成了营销。”我侃侃而谈全球时尚趋势，他却回答得天衣无缝：“你瞧，我并不是干销售这一行的。”

To begin with, he’s not too happy to talk about Fendi’s upcoming couture show either, which is a shame because that’s what we’re supposed to be doing. Fendi’s first foray on to the couture stage, next week’s Haute Fourrure (high fur) collection, is a debut for the house and the second of two couture shows that Lagerfeld will stage in Paris next week. (In fact, pedants could argue, it will be the third, as he will present Chanel couture twice so as to accommodate everyone who wants to see it). Mounting two collections, within as many days, which serve two different masters, is a superhuman undertaking, especially considering the designer is now 81, or thereabouts (discussion of Lagerfeld’s exact age is hotly discouraged).

首先，他不愿谈及芬迪即将举办的高级定制女装展，这实在让我羞愧不已，因为这正是我此行的目的。芬迪首次进军高级定制女装——不久后举行的高级定制皮草(Haute Fourrure)系列展将是芬迪首个高定皮草时装，也是老佛爷在巴黎举行的第二场高级定制时装展。事实上，固执的较劲者会说这将是他的第三场高级定制时装展，因为他会举办两次香奈儿高级定制女装展，以飨希望一饱眼福的时尚拥趸。就在这么短的时间里先后推出两场不同时尚品牌的高定时尚秀，实属“超人之举”，尤其是老佛爷如今已届81岁高龄，坊间说大致就是这个年龄（探讨老佛爷的真实年龄极不受他待见）。

“It was their idea,” he says, when I ask about the Fendi show’s genesis. “I thought it was interesting because there’s the market for that [couture], so I thought it could not be a bad idea to show the top of the craftsmanship in that business. But I didn’t propose to do two collections at couture. I have more jobs and more work than I need...”

“这完全是公司的主意。”当我问他芬迪皮草女装秀的由来时，他这样辩解道。“我觉得想法不错，因为市场有此需求，因此我觉得展示业界顶级工艺是个不错的主意。但我并未提议接连举办两场高级定制女装展。我身兼数职、业务繁忙、实在是分身乏术。”

For the inaugural show on Wednesday, Lagerfeld will deliver about 30 looks in a collection that will shine a renewed focus on the brand’s heritage as a specialist fur house and clothing line. The Italian luxury house was founded as a fur and leather brand by Edoardo and Adele Fendi in 1925. The couple then passed on the reins to their five daughters and, today, granddaughter Silvia Venturini Fendi oversees the men’s and accessories lines alongside Lagerfeld (it was she who introduced the cult “Baguette” handbag in 1997). The house still manifests as a family business, even though LVMH bought a majority stake in 2001 and has since installed a chief executive, Pietro Beccari, who has been instrumental in creating a vision for the brand.

芬迪高定首秀，老佛爷将会推出约30种款式，以全新方式集中展现芬迪作为皮草专家以及时装方面的悠久历史。意大利皮草品牌芬迪由爱德华多芬迪 (Edoardo Fendi)和阿黛勒芬迪 (Adele Fendi)夫妇于1925年创办。夫妇俩而后把衣钵传给五个女儿，如今孙女西尔维亚芬迪(Silvia Fendi)与老佛爷一起，掌管男装与配饰系列（正是她于1997年首推风靡世界的Baguette手袋）。芬迪至今仍属家族企业，即便路威酩轩(LVMH)于2001年收购了其大部分股份，而且任命皮埃特罗贝卡利(Pietro Beccari)出任公司CEO，他为芬迪打造的美好未来可谓居功至伟。

For Fendi, already fabled for its novel treatment in a highly technical field, Haute Fourrure will be the ultimate expression of “fantasy fur”, as represented by the house’s double “f” logo. Fendi has always innovated with its manufacturing methods: In 1989 the house developed a “grained leather” technique, that combined fur and leather to create a lighter take of the traditional brown coat. More recently, Lagerfeld has played with texture: for SS15, he used shaved mink, inlaid with vivid geometric designs, to create a “fur that doesn’t even look like fur”. Meanwhile, the house’s “bugs” — neon-bright clip-on handbag accessories with cartoon faces that retail for about 500 a piece — have become an essential feature of the street-style uniform.

芬迪在做工要求高的行当以新奇著称，它推出的高级定制皮草时装(Haute Fourrure)将是展示终极版的“梦幻皮草”——如同芬迪的双F标识一样。芬迪一直在创新自己的制作工艺：1989年，它首推“粒面皮革”工艺(“grained leather” technique)——把皮裘与皮革合二为一，使传统棕色真皮外套更加轻盈。最近，老佛爷又玩弄了一把面料：他在设计2015年春夏季时装时，采用镶饰鲜艳几何图案的去毛貂皮，从而打造出“不似皮草的皮草”。与此同时，芬迪的“bugs”系列（每件售价500英镑）——霓虹色卡通式夹子款手包配饰，也成为年轻人时尚手袋不可缺少的配饰。

The couture show will allow him to experiment even further. “Typically, the old furs hardly exist any more,” he says of the heavier material that he used to work with. “So it’s all in the craftsmanship. And at this level, you can push it to a level of craftsmanship that would be too expensive for ready-to-wear: mixing things, design, pattern, fur mixed with feathers, all kinds of things. For me, this is what’s interesting.”

高级定制女装秀赋予了老佛爷大胆创新的机会。“通常说来，老款皮草如今已基本弃用。”他指的是自己过去曾用过的厚质皮料。“因此，一切取决于制作工艺。在当前的制作工艺下，打造出来的成衣价格会非常高：把面料、设计风格以及款式合而为一，把皮裘与皮革结合起来，应有尽有。而这正是我最感兴趣的东西。”

To put a dedicated fur show within the couture schedule is not without controversy. But Lagerfeld doesn’t do much soul-searching over the use of this most morally complex material. “It’s changed since in the 1990s and that’s a good thing,” he says of the legislation that has seen the industry become more rigorously regulated. Nevertheless, there will always be people who see fur as wrong. Lagerfeld, who doesn’t wear fur himself, says. “As long as people eat meat and wear leather...I don’t see the thing...” he sighs. “It’s a little too easy, you know — there are enough unemployed people in the world that you cannot suppress a whole industry that would have nothing else to do.” Besides, he adds: “The sales are good.”

在高级定制时装周期间，举办皮草专场不乏争议。但对于使用这种最富争议的真皮料，老佛爷并未显得太过内疚。“自上世纪90年代以来，一切早已今非昔比，但这是好事。”他说的是对该行业的立法，正是这让皮草业的监管越来越规范。然而，总有人认为穿皮草装是不对的。自己从不穿皮草的老佛爷说：“只要有人吃肉穿皮草……我就不觉得情况会有多大改观……”他叹着气说道。“取材实在太过容易，你知道——全球失业者那么多，所以很难禁绝整个皮草行业。一旦禁绝，皮草业会无所事事。”此外，他补充道：“皮草销售行情一直很旺。”

The sales are indeed good. According to Mark Oaten, chief executive of the International Fur Federation, the global mink industry alone is worth 3.7bn, while fox fur is worth a further 880m. Even in the UK, one of the most squeamish nations when it comes to the subject (and where exotic fur is not featured in many British fashion monthlies) the sales figures are steadily increasingly. “We saw a 20 per cent rise in London last year,” says Oaten. “And we don’t think this was all down to tourism. Sales in cities like Manchester and Leeds are also seeing an increase.”

销售业绩的确不错。据国际皮毛协会CEO马克攠滕(Mark Oaten)介绍：光全球貂皮业的年销售额就达到了37亿欧元，狐皮的销售额也有8.8亿欧元。甚至在英国这个全球对狐皮最为挑剔的国家（英国诸多时尚月刊都不刊登狐皮特辑），其销售额也在逐年上升。“伦敦去年的狐皮服装销售增长了20%。”奥滕说，“我们并不认为这完全拜旅游所赐。曼彻斯特与利兹等城市的销售同样稳步增长。”

Only time will tell if Fourrure is a commercial success, but placing the house on this rarefied stage is a neat bit of brand extension, all part of Beccari’s desire “to promote and promote and promote,” according to Lagerfeld. The house will hope also to lure a small but significant clientele, whose numbers have been swelled by the new markets in Russia, Asia and the Middle East.

Haute Fourrure系列高级女装上市后是否会一炮打响，一切留待时间去检验，但进军曲高和寡的皮草时装业，实属芬迪正常的业务拓展，在老佛爷看来，这一切都是实现公司CEO贝卡利“开拓、开拓、再开拓”的意图内容。芬迪还希望籍此吸引一小撮重要客户，其人数因俄罗斯、亚洲以及中东等新兴市场的需求而出现大幅飚升。

“Couture is doing very well” says Lagerfeld. “I have no idea how it works at other houses but at Chanel, it’s kind of a miracle.” Why does he think that is? “People want something that is worth spending their money on. “Today, very basic classic things don’t sell, or they have to be in a new material. They have to be from a new world.”

“高级定制女装销售十分喜人。”老佛爷说。“我不清楚其它同行品牌是如何运作的，但香奈儿的销售业绩实属奇迹。”我问他何出此言。“客户都想要物有所值的高档时装。如今，经典款时装根本卖不动，要不就得启用新面料。所以必须另辟蹊径。”

Many creative directors describe couture as being a crucible, in the sense that it allows them to distil a vision that will ultimately inform all of their ready-to-wear. No surprise, Lagerfeld is appalled by the notion.

很多创意总监称设计高级定制女装是个大坎，从某种意义说，它可以让设计师的想象力得以升华，从而最终影响到所有成衣的设计风格。老佛爷对其看法颇为震惊，这完全是预料之中的事。

“It’s a completely different spirit,” he says. “If it was in the same spirit, I just wouldn’t do it because I would be bored to death. I would just say no. No, no, no!” For him, couture is about “the craftsmanship, the proportions. It has nothing to do with the ready-to-wear. It should not have anything to do with ready-to-wear.”

“与成衣相比，高级定制女装秉持完全不同的设计理念。”他说，“如果两者设计理念如出一辙，我就不会去做，因为这会让我觉得腻烦透顶。我只会说自己拒绝这样做。绝不会这样做！”在他看来，高级定制女装就是“做工与比例关系。它与成衣风马牛不相及，也不应相关。”

Instead, Lagerfeld starts every collection in the same way. With a blank piece of paper and a pencil. “I sketch things, because I sketch everything,” he says. “I don’t work with artists. I sketch everything myself. I wanted to be an illustrator and a potter before I was in fashion, and I was in fashion nearly by accident. So when I do a sketch that I keep — because 99 per cent goes to the garbage can — it is hardly changed. And the collection is made in exactly the way I made the sketch. Look at the boards, at Fendi and Chanel. You’ll see the sketch and you’ll see the final dress and they are the same. I’m not there draping for hours and asking myself a hundred questions. Those questions I ask myself before I draw the sketch.”

相反，老佛爷动手设计每个系列时，方法完全一样：仅用一张白纸与一支铅笔。“我手绘设计草图，因为我所有的设计都是如此。”他说，“我无需画家帮助，我亲手绘制所有设计草图。干设计这行前，我本想当名插图画家与陶艺家，我入这一行纯属偶然。因此一旦定稿（99%的草图都成了废纸，扔进了垃圾筒），我就基本不再做改动。每个时装系列的设计完全参照手绘图样。在芬迪与香奈儿的董事会议室，你可以看到手绘草图与最后定型的女装，它们一模一样。设计期间，我不会再费长时间去左思右想怎么做，那些问题早在手绘草图前就已解决。”

Lagerfeld’s process, then, is to “propose” the final garment and then task others with conjuring it to his satisfaction. “Exactly, exactly. But I like to see it done in material, in another dimension. It’s very exciting and very interesting. Sometimes you’re disappointed, sometimes you are not. It’s a very strange job. But that’s what I like about it.”

因此，老佛爷的整个设计过程就是“酝酿构思”好定型的款式，然后指挥手下，像变戏法一样做出自己满意的时装。“完全如此！但我喜欢使用不同的面料、尝试不同的尺寸。这既有趣又刺激。当然有时会感到失望沮丧，但有时成就感十足。设计是个非常奇怪行当，但这正是我喜欢它的原因。”

If Lagerfeld likes to play with new manufacturing techniques, it’s because his sketches challenge the limits of what can be done. Only here does he admit to the advantage of a career’s worth of experience. “For once, I must say, I have done it for such a long time that, for me, they can do things that are supposed to be unexpected or impossible.”

老佛爷之所以喜欢尝试新制作手法，是因为他的手绘设计草图已臻极致。至此他才承认经验对设计的巨大裨益。“这一次，我得承认自己从事这个行当几十年的好处；就本人而言，经验能帮助我设计出出奇不意的时装佳作。”

Music is playing in the background: it’s a song Lagerfeld can’t identify, part of an ever updating playlist he absorbs to keep abreast of cultural developments. He loves the act of discovery, be it a person, place, artist or book. It was he who first took the fashion show on the road, staging Chanel’s Métiers d’Art (the pre-fall collection) in a unique location every year, and inspiring a dozen other houses to do likewise. He was one of the first people to possess an iPod (he once told journalists he owned 300), and he’s very proud of his new Apple Watch: a bespoke version that was made in rose gold with a matching bracelet. “I think I’m the only one who has one entirely in gold,” he says. “It’s very, very beautiful.”

他的工作室一直播放着背景音乐：这是一首连老佛爷自己都叫不出名字的乐曲，他总是不断更新自己的音乐播放表，以期紧跟文化发展之步伐。不管是对凡夫俗子还是画家、到各个地方旅游还是阅读书籍，他都很享受探索发现的过程。正是他首次在大马路边举办时装秀，每年他会在一个特殊地点举办香奈儿的Métiers d’Art早秋时装展，此举导致其它众多时尚品牌争相效仿。他还是iPod的首波使用者（他曾告诉记者自己拥有300台iPod），他还非常喜欢自己新买的苹果手表(Apple Watch)：这款定制腕表用玫瑰金打造而成，还搭配了交相辉映的表链。“我认为自己是普天下唯一拥有纯金苹果手表的人。”他说。“这款表真的美仑美奂。”

He’ll never iDesign though. “I don’t design on computers,” he says. “It’s not that I don’t know how; I don’t like it.” He pauses. “You know, I think I’m the last designer that really sketches illustrations. And the people I work with are used to reading my sketches. And sometimes I see a fitting that is exactly what I wanted.”

尽管如此，他从不借助电脑进行设计。“我设计从不用电脑。”他说，“并非我不知道使用方法，而是本人压根就不喜欢。”他停了会儿继续说道，“你知道，我自认为是最后一个真正手绘草图的设计师。我的合作者已习惯于看我的手绘图。有时我会无意之中看到自己心仪的尺码。”

For a man who bestrides the fashion landscape so completely, the hand-drawn sketch seems also an excellent way of retaining creative control.

对于这个执时尚牛耳的大腕，手绘草图似乎也是他在设计界维系呼风唤雨统治力的绝佳方式。

“Exactly! exactly!” he concludes. “Whatever that means, that’s what it is, my dear.”

“完全如此！千真万确！”他一锤定音道。“亲爱的，说一千、道一万，正是此意。”