Celeb Moms Sounds Off on Karl Lagerfeld's Recent 'Fat Mum' Comments
Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has never been known for his tact. But he completely crossed the line when he recently moved from bashing healthy models, like Heidi Klum, to insulting real, everyday women - especially mothers.
"No one wants to see curvy women," said Lagerfeld in response to German magazine Brigitte's decision to use real women instead of models in its pages starting with the Jan. 2 issue. "These are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television, saying that thin models are ugly." This is about "dreams and illusions, and no one wants to see round women," he said in an interview with Focus magazine.
Of course, as the creative director of Chanel, Lagerfeld, 71, is responsible for perpetuating the size 0 model stereotype in his Paris fashion shows. "Runway models are thinner than ever, and that's because it's what's in demand by the designers," Harold Mindel, director of NYC's Click Model Management, told Life & Style. Ideally, runway models are 5-foot-10 or 5-foot-11 and wear size 0 to 2, a nearly impossible standard. "Designers, fashion photographers and casting agents have always wanted a thin body to show the silhouette of clothes," said Mindel.
But plus-size model, fashion designer and mom Emme Jacob thinks this is a dangerous image to perpetuate. "There needs to be a 'Body Image 101' industry-wide," Emme told Life & Style. "The fashion industry and advertisers need to understand how their creations are affecting their wives, their daughters, their sons, their aunts, their cousins and everyone that they want as customers."
"It's highly offensive," added Jacob. "He is clearly living on his own fashionista island. It's something to disregard." "I don't think he's attached to what the majority of women struggle with," says Emme. "He's not even attached to reality."
And in a final dis, former The L Word actress Sarah Shahi said: "No one cares about the opinion of a man who knows only how to make clothes for prepubescent girls."
Lagerfeld's own demons
Lagerfeld has been outspoken about the beauty of stick-thin models, but he's battled his own weight issues. In 2001, he dropped 92 pounds over 13 months and then, with the help of his doctor, went on to share his low-carb, low-calorie (1,000 to 1,200 a day) secrets with the world in The Karl Lagerfeld Diet. "I eat next to nothing," he's admitted.
Related: Karl Lagerfeld Attacks Fat Mummies, Teen Vogue Model Pregnant
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
CLM 10-26-2009 @ 4:39PM
"No one wants to see curvy women". Raquel Welch, Sophia Loren, Salma Hayek, Scarlett Johanssen. 'Nuff said.
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Hal 10-28-2009 @ 1:37PM
Lana Turner, Jayne Mansfield, Mariska Hargitay, Marilyn Munroe, Queen Latifah, Elizabeth Taylor ...
My favorite designers are Edith Head and Bob Mackie. Both are (were) primarily Hollywood designers. Their designs were meant to serve the story, to make statements about the characters wearing them, and, within the reality of that character and her story, to look great on the actresses, actresses who came in all shapes and sizes. Designers today are artists, they are not team players. As with most artists they create first and foremost for themselves. They choose models that will best show off the clothes, they do not create clothes that will serve women, any women.
Mr. Lagerfeld is entitled to his opinion and even to state it. I am confident Coco Chanel would disagree. She designed for women.
Karin B 10-28-2009 @ 9:27AM
I agree...there are way to many curvy women who are highly respected celebs. It sounds like this jerk needs to take a break, finish his therapy, get a healthier mental status, and then come back and just do what he does. The fashion industry has always used very thin women, because they want to show the clothes in a certain way ( usually meaning, looking like they are hanging off a hanger). This is nothing new. However, this guy takes it a step further and actually steps outside polite society and attacks people. Okay, so I'm a fat mom....I dont go harassing small, ugly little trolls who have to resort to creating their own scandals to garner attention. Pathetic, and really quite sad.
zumawas 10-28-2009 @ 11:17AM
Women should stop letting gay guys design for them. They always end up looking like drag queens
lola 10-28-2009 @ 11:46AM
Karl likes models to look like his lovers underage boys
Heidi 10-26-2009 @ 5:14PM
Clothing for the runway is not clothing for the human body. Real people don't wear any of this stuff. And no one should care what he thinks anyway if his "ideal" woman's body looks anorexic
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Heather 10-26-2009 @ 9:19PM
The man is an idiot anyways we really shouldn't care what he thinks. And who is he anyways to say what people think is beautiful ( yeah I know he is a fashion guy but other then that.....? )He is one opnion and there are many different views about what is beautiful.
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Lotte 10-28-2009 @ 6:25AM
The man is so unattractive it's unreal!
I studied design many years ago and even the worst hack I knew then could blow him out of the water - Chanel needs to get someone in touch with the real world not this idiot's fantasy world!
Oh, has anyone else taken just a bit of exception to the poll here? "Maybe. Depends on the time of the month......"? EXCUSE ME?
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Terri 10-28-2009 @ 3:44PM
I was wondering if anyone else was going to mention that. Wow. Neanderthal much?
Gary 10-28-2009 @ 7:28AM
No one wants to be an unhealthy, heart attack waiting to happen, cant walk when they get to 50 jumbo jet. I guess no one wants to be FAT. Sure seems like we have a lot more of them now than ever. No wonder they need a health care plan.
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Fred 10-28-2009 @ 8:02AM
Give me something to hold onto. Thin is nice but bumping bones is not my ideal. A little cushion for the pushin'. A smile and a loving attitude is what makes a woman beautiful really. The world's best looking fox is truely ugly if she's a bitch and plain Jane down the hall is a babe if she smiles and is happy.
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markvacc1 10-28-2009 @ 11:15AM
Thank You Fred!!!!! I've been saying that for I don't know how many years.
Denise 10-28-2009 @ 9:54AM
I'm sorry but the idea of "stick" figures being beautiful, I just don't get. I'm curvy and proud of it. These so called fashion designers are putting the wrong image into young girls heads. I'm all for the days when a size 12 or 14 was sexy.
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jen 10-28-2009 @ 9:59AM
I find his remarks repulsive and insensitive and if I could afford his clothes, I wouldn't buy them. He can kiss my curvy toned size 8 butt! I think a healthy size 8 is so much more attractive than a stick thin dieted zero who is probably miserable!
My twin girls are now 2 1/2, and I'm back down to a size 8 after stuggling with weight issues for years. I eat a high fiber diet with salmon, chicken, avocado(love the omega 3's) and squeeze in some kind of exercise when I can... I'm a working mom, navigating that whole balance thing. I walk daily wearing an exercise insole that fits into sneakers and shoes that work to tone muscles and burn additional calories. I wear them everywhere I go, they're really comfortable, and you'll feel the difference in your legs and butt almost immediately. I'm always looking for ways to enhance weight loss, and who doesn't want to burn more calories while just walking around. They're called SmartSole Insoles http://www.smartsole.com I found the code jm10 on a prevention health board and it gives you 10% off.
Shame on you Mr. Largerfeld. It wasn't that long along you were a little portly and nobody said mean things to you!
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Winsyrstrife 10-28-2009 @ 10:08AM
All types of women can be attractive. Keep in mind, however, that everyone has a preference, whether they want to admit it or not. With that said, I love my women with meat on their bones.
"Are you gonna take me home tonight?
Ah down beside that red firelight?
Are you gonna let it all hang out?
Fat bottomed girls you make the rockin' world go round."
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lola 10-28-2009 @ 10:25AM
Correction: No gay man likes to see curvy women--real men do.
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melody 10-28-2009 @ 10:40AM
i've never seen anything at those fashion shows i would want to wear,most of the time it looks like clown clothes
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Kate 10-28-2009 @ 10:54AM
Lagerfeld is just probably just intimidated by women who aren't sticks because the size of his....brain....looks incredibly small next to a woman who has some meat on her bones.
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Dayna 10-28-2009 @ 11:10AM
Its all rather simple... He likes women in his shows, to look like 12 year old boys he would like in bed. A woman that small has nothing to offer. No breasts, no butt, not good for motherhood, and most of the time, drug habits that weigh more than they do.
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soosie rayford 10-28-2009 @ 11:29AM
Way to go Karl, spoken like a true gay man. Men who actually are ATTRACTED to females do like a few curves for the most part. They don't care if your lipstick lasts all day or if you have a little jiggle under your arms. They love a woman who is happy, confident and most of all, wearing a great big smile. We women are so hard on ourselves and people like Karl Lagerfeld are outdated, overrated, bitter men who are just upset that smart designers like Isaac Mizrahi have figured out that women do come in all sizes and that there is nothing wrong with shopping in all price ranges. Haute Couture? How about a hot mess.
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