Caroline Lebar, SVP of Image and Communications, joins Maria Botros on this week’s Tell Me Why episode to talk about how her personal and professional relationship with Karl Lagerfeld evolved beautifully throughout the years.
Caroline: I remember getting a letter from Karl saying ‘starting now you’re Karo, so we have the same initials’
This is a name I’ve kept for life, everybody calls me Karo now, says Caroline
Caroline: I started as an intern in the company at just 17 years old
It’s our role to bring Karl’s legacy and soul into the team, says Caroline
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Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
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#UAEnews #podcast #karllagerfeld
Caroline: I remember getting a letter from Karl saying ‘starting now you’re Karo, so we have the same initials’
This is a name I’ve kept for life, everybody calls me Karo now, says Caroline
Caroline: I started as an intern in the company at just 17 years old
It’s our role to bring Karl’s legacy and soul into the team, says Caroline
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #podcast #karllagerfeld
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NewsTranscript
00:00The whole feeling from the beginning was the warm attitude, was the politeness, was how much he cares,
00:09which nobody can believe because Karl was known from outside to be a bit strong.
00:15Yes.
00:16He was really a warm person.
00:18Yes.
00:19But the evolution of the relationship, it's not made in a day.
00:27He was really kind of a German person.
00:30The trust comes forever, but it takes time to come.
00:36Yes, of course.
00:37And it's step by step, and it's really this feeling of waking up in the morning after a conversation
00:44and you feel like, oh, there's a new step that we went through.
00:51Yes.
00:52How does it translate?
00:53It's tenure with good relationship, and after tenure you get phone calls in the morning,
01:01and you're like, oh, great.
01:03Okay, so we have a casual conversation.
01:05It's not necessarily about your family, but it's about work.
01:09But he really tried to embrace the project, and he discussed it with you, get your opinion.
01:15I give my opinion to Karl Lagerfeld.
01:18It's a big deal.
01:19It's a big deal.
01:20And then tenure passes, and the phone calls are every day.
01:23Yes.
01:24Every day in the morning you have your specific timing.
01:28Mine was a bit late compared to the rest of the team.
01:31It was between 11 and 12.
01:34The whole feeling from the beginning was the wrong attitude, was impolite.
01:44All right.
01:45We are now joined by Caroline Lebard, who is the SVP of Image and Communications at Karl Lagerfeld.
01:53How are you?
01:54I'm fine.
01:55I'm very happy to be here.
01:56I'm going to ask you the same question I asked Pierre.
01:59Is it your first time in Dubai?
02:00No, not my first time in Dubai.
02:02I came with Karl in Dubai.
02:04Yes.
02:05Okay.
02:06And how do you like it this time around?
02:07I think it's a vibrant city.
02:13I think if you don't come every year, you are meeting a different city.
02:21Exactly.
02:22It evolves quickly.
02:23It's moving all the time.
02:25It's all the time with new innovation, new buildings, new entertainment, new streets.
02:33It's a city where you have to come often.
02:36Yes, exactly.
02:37Otherwise, you get lost.
02:38Exactly.
02:39It's a city that always evolves and never sleeps.
02:43Caroline, you have a very interesting nickname that was given to you by Karl.
02:48Surprisingly, you just told me this.
02:50It's the same initials as his name as well.
02:52In fact, my name is Caroline, so it's with a C.
02:57I remember once I got a letter from Karl saying,
03:01starting now, I call you Karo, but Karo with a K, so we have the same initials.
03:07It's nice and fun, but this is also a name that I kept for life.
03:17Everybody calls me Karo and writes it with a K,
03:21but the reality is that it's just a normal name that is Caroline.
03:25Yes, exactly.
03:27You mentioned that he gave you this name many years ago.
03:30When did you start with Karl?
03:33Let me recall.
03:35It's an old story.
03:37I started at Karl, I think it was in 1984, 1985.
03:42It was like six months or one year after the brand started.
03:46Karl Lagerfeld.
03:48I was kind of a baby because I don't think I was even 20.
03:53That was the case for all the employees in the company.
03:58We started the company, I think we were like 15.
04:0315 people between 18 years old and the oldest maybe was 30 years old.
04:15Karl was young too.
04:17That was really fun.
04:19This is still extremely fun.
04:22This is still a family, the company, but over the 40 years of the experience at Karl,
04:30it has been evolving.
04:32It's now a big company with a lot of employees and this same feeling of a family.
04:37What did you start doing?
04:39What did you do when you first started with him?
04:41I started as an intern in the company.
04:46Intern at the PR department.
04:50I did start working very, very young.
04:52I was 17 when I did start working.
04:56I was coming from PR, but I was also coming from an experience in a model agency as a booker.
05:06I did start with the PR.
05:08Karl heard that I have previous experience in model agencies, so I did start also to do bookings.
05:16But that was like this.
05:18It was just, you like it, do it.
05:22Karl was giving a lot of trust to people.
05:27When you had this feeling, he was giving a lot of trust and he was empowering people.
05:34Then it became, okay, you do the casting, so maybe we work together on the music.
05:44I was involved in the music, but I was kind of a nightclubber.
05:48Oh, nice.
05:50And we were old.
05:52Karl was not doing that much nightclubbing.
05:57He was very sage, we would say in France, kind of serious.
06:05Then it became, okay, casting, so you work on the show, so maybe you get involved.
06:13Karl was designing all the setup for the fashion show, so I got involved in the events, working on this, keeping the PR.
06:20It was like in a family, you are preparing an event, everyone is trying to support.
06:29Exactly.
06:30And with time, it kept being like this, because this feeling of you like it, you do it well, keep doing it.
06:39I'm a senior vice president for image and communication, but I'm also involved in this beautiful project on the creative side.
06:48So we have this freedom in this company, and this trust has been becoming almost the mantra of the company.
06:59And I believe that exists because you mentioned the key word, you guys were a family.
07:04Within a family, you don't look at titles.
07:07Yes, I do have this title, however, I am involved in whatever details need support, and that is key.
07:13And that's something that I think is not arguable, no one can argue about that, because Pierre was saying the same exact thing.
07:20He was saying, you are all a family, it's just a family dynamic rather than a workforce.
07:27You mentioned that you helped with the casting for models, but I know that you mentioned a story where he tried to get you to do one of the shows, to model in one of the shows.
07:40I've been modeling for years, so that was pretty fun.
07:48The day of the show was really like I was a PR starting, the shows were very early, so I was a PR starting at like 4.30, 5 o'clock in the morning, welcoming the models, because I was taking care of the castings.
08:03Then, 8 o'clock, I was also getting grooming, because I was modeling.
08:11So, with my grooming, I was going outside to welcome the journalists, but I was not alone.
08:18It looks like I was doing everything, I was part of many things, this is what I mean.
08:24Then, from outside, I was called, like, OK, the show will start, you have to go backstage.
08:31Backstage, I was putting the headphones on, and you have to tell the models when they go out, and go, go, go.
08:43At one point, I was putting the headphones on, going on the catwalk, coming back, putting back the headphones.
08:49With this, the fun side is that Carol was not stressed at all.
08:54It was very cool in the backstage, talking to every single model, asking about family, holidays, and you were obliged to take the models.
09:04OK, Carol, now she has to go.
09:07We'll talk about her family later.
09:09We'll talk about the family later, and then the show was going this way.
09:15Now, it was not only about Carol.
09:21It was also the time, the 80s, the 90s, fashion was much less professional, in a way.
09:30It was much more, OK, we do what we like, we have fun on the catwalk.
09:35Even if we don't choose a trendy music, we choose it because we like it, or we make it trendy.
09:42It was less professional, it was more of a fun story.
09:49Less serious, you want to say.
09:51I mean, less serious, less organized.
09:55It was creative, it was artistic, it was like, let's go with the flow.
09:59This is still artistic, fashion is still part of, for me, is still an artistic thing.
10:09But it was more about friends together doing a beautiful show.
10:16And it was working like this.
10:18And the evolution is very nice, too.
10:20There's good things in every phase, I guess.
10:24Absolutely.
10:26Going through all this is very fun.
10:29The only thing, and I have to thank Carol for this, that is required when you do such a long career in a company,
10:40is to learn how to be flexible.
10:43To learn how, when you have a new president, to adapt to the situation.
10:49When you have a bigger team, how you have to change your attitude.
10:54Keeping the family side, the warm, and also the trust to people.
10:59But the big thing I've been learning from Carol is how to adapt.
11:05Because I've been working with him a lot on his personal project, aside the brand.
11:13And it meant, let's say on a Monday we were doing a project with cars.
11:21Then we were going to the studio and we were doing fashion.
11:27But the day after, a beverage company.
11:33No need to mention which one was calling you.
11:37And then you were working with a beverage company.
11:43Then the day after it was about fashion, then architecture.
11:47You have to adapt.
11:48And Carol had so many talents and skills.
11:52Sometimes it was pretty hard to follow.
11:55Yes, and he was a core believer in, I believe, from what you're saying, the sky's the limit.
12:01You're exploring everything under the sky and this is what the brand is about.
12:05It was all about passion.
12:07Unbelievable, which is the main driver when you want to create something that matters and that makes an impact.
12:14It has to be driven by passion.
12:15I can see that in you guys as well.
12:17I feel like his legacy lives on in you and in Pierre and the people that I've spoken to from the team.
12:25You can tell that you guys have the same spirit from what you're describing and what I see in front of me.
12:31It's beautiful that it all comes together.
12:34The thing is also, it's not that this legacy and this soul, let's say, that we carry, because Pierre was pretty close to Carol.
12:47Our role is to bring it into the heart of the team too.
12:52It's not that we should be seen as the one who carried the legacy.
12:58The aim at the end is also that the team embrace this and we communicate this kind of indescribable feeling of this family.
13:11Tell us about your personal relationship with Carl.
13:14Away from the work, how was the dynamic between you guys?
13:20In fact, Carl was very special.
13:23He was a very warm person, very, very warm from the very beginning.
13:30He was extremely polite, very well-educated.
13:35It was a pleasure from the beginning with him.
13:38The first day you meet him, you have the feeling.
13:41You can't believe the great relationship you have with him.
13:45And then time passes, maybe 10 years, because it's a long process.
13:51And you wake up in the morning and you realize that something has been changing.
13:56And your relationships are getting deeper.
14:02And you feel, that's great.
14:06It's amazing to have this more casual relationship and more in-depth.
14:12And then 10 years passes and it was really step by step.
14:19The whole feeling from the beginning was the warm attitude, was the politeness, was how much he cares, which nobody can believe.
14:31Because Carl was known from outside to be a bit strong.
14:36He was really a warm person.
14:39But the evolution of the relationship, it's not made in a day.
14:47He was really kind of a German person.
14:50The trust comes forever, but it takes time to come.
14:57And it's step by step.
15:00It's really this feeling of waking up in the morning after a conversation and you feel like there's a new step that we went through.
15:12And how does it translate?
15:15It's 10 years with good relationship and after 10 years you get phone calls in the morning.
15:22And you're like, oh great, okay, so we have a casual conversation.
15:27It's not necessarily about your family, but it's about work.
15:31But he really tried to embrace the project and he discussed it with you, get your opinion.
15:37I give my opinion to Carl Lagerfeld.
15:40It's a big deal.
15:42And then 10 years passes and the phone calls are every day.
15:46Every day in the morning you have your specific timing.
15:49Mine was a bit late compared to the rest of the team.
15:54It was between 11 and 12.
15:56The conversation could last five minutes, but also could last one hour and a half.
16:01And so we discussed the project because I was involved in his personal stuff.
16:09So we discussed people, we discussed trips.
16:14And then 10 years passes and then the conversation is about the family and holidays.
16:22He was really willing that you keep your private garden, we say in French.
16:33So he was never calling over the weekend.
16:37He was very respectful about your private life, but he was happy to hear.
16:41He was not questioning, but he knew that if you deliver something, it was...
16:46But at the end, this very warm relationship, very friendly relationship,
16:53there is something that for me was important until the end.
16:59I never forgot that maybe Carl, I can say today, Carl was my mentor.
17:05I think I've been living with Carl more than even with my own father.
17:10But I never forgot he was Carl Lagerfeld.
17:14He was, let's say, the boss, the creator.
17:19And I think this is also the reason why we kept this very good relationship.
17:25Because I think there are limits that you have to keep in order to have a good relationship.
17:36Exactly, that's beautiful.
17:38Because sometimes being close to someone does not mean that the respect is gone or the boundaries are gone.
17:45As you said, there was still respect, you still recognized he was your boss, but the relationship was very deep.
17:52It had nothing to do with that.
17:54It was deep and fun. Carl was doing jokes all the time.
17:57Bad jokes sometimes.
17:59And the worse were the jokes, the more he was laughing at himself.
18:05And the funnier it must have been for you guys as well, right?
18:08That's fun, that's great.
18:10You are working a lot because we are working a lot.
18:17That's the same now.
18:19Working as a family, I don't call it work necessarily.
18:23I call it experiences.
18:25And we are lucky to work in an industry where the experiences are amazing.
18:31No one can complain about what we are living.
18:35But the top, the cherry on the cake I would say with Carl was how fun he was.
18:42He was always doing jokes.
18:45Fantastic, that's nice.
18:47Imagine going to work and having fun.
18:51A lot of people don't have that.
18:54It's something to cherish.
18:56I hope this is the experience we are still living today.
19:01It's fun doing great big projects, working a lot.
19:06Working a lot is easy if you have fun with people.
19:10Exactly.
19:12I want to discuss with you the Met Gala last year.
19:17It highlighted Carl Lagerfeld.
19:20It was called A Line of Beauty.
19:23We know that a lot of stars wore some of his pieces as well.
19:29Can you tell us a bit more about that?
19:31How did it feel?
19:33Who were some of the stars that actually wore his pieces?
19:36How did you bring it to life?
19:38I have to say a star wearing things of Carl was not unusual to us.
19:45Yes, of course.
19:47For me the biggest thing about the Met, apart from the Met Gala,
19:53that is I guess the biggest gala you can have in fashion.
19:58All these celebrities being together to celebrate Carl is very emotional.
20:05For me the biggest thing was to have Carl at the museum
20:12with this incredible exhibition.
20:16Very well curated by Andrew Bolton.
20:20Andrew knew Carl so he did embrace who the man was,
20:25what his fashion was, the cultural side of Carl.
20:31It was beautiful.
20:33There is a little anecdote, if I can say.
20:37Please.
20:39Andrew did very nicely, very generously, after a long conversation
20:45with the people at Chanel, the people at Fendi, with us at Carl,
20:50because he did really want to hear about Carl, the soul, the man, the fashion.
20:56He did invite an architect that is called Thaddeo Ando,
21:03a very famous architect, to do the scenography of the exhibition.
21:09The reason why is that Carl did love this architect.
21:14He has been trying to build a house for himself with Thaddeo Ando
21:21for almost all his life.
21:25It was never agreed by the municipalities,
21:29because this is very specific what Thaddeo Ando is doing.
21:32And the beautiful thing is, this beautiful gesture from Andrew
21:38is to give this home to Carl in the exhibition.
21:43He got the house.
21:45He got the house, that's beautiful.
21:47And it was filled with his beautiful creations.
21:50I'm very happy also to see that this exhibition was filled with crowd
21:59all along the time the exhibition was taking place at the Met Museum.
22:04I heard that they've been reaching a huge amount of visitors,
22:10and that's very nice for me to hear.
22:15I have to say, if I'm a bit pretentious, I think it's a bit normal for Carl.
22:22Not at all, not at all.
22:24But now, if you go and the celebrity signs,
22:27for me the more emotional thing was to see all these people celebrating Carl.
22:32Yes, beautiful.
22:34Last question, I know your time is super valuable,
22:37and we've held you long enough.
22:39And I like the time I spend with you.
22:41Yeah, me too. I mean, this conversation can just keep flowing.
22:44But I know a lot of people are waiting for us to finish it.
22:47What do you see in the future of the brand?
22:50How do you view the future of Carl Lagerfeld?
22:54We are surfing on the wave, my dear.
22:57Nice, nice.
22:59What I see is the brand continuing its way,
23:04the way Carl was doing things, meaning embracing fashion,
23:08but also all other kinds of projects.
23:12Carl was extremely collaborative.
23:15This is the journey we are following.
23:18And this is, with this beautiful project,
23:22one of the demonstrations of the way we follow Carl.
23:28But the brand is also keeping the soul of Carl,
23:35is also inventing the future.
23:38You know the mantra from Carl, I guess Pierre told you.
23:41But this is really something we almost all wake up in the morning thinking
23:46of this mantra that is embracing the present and invent the future.
23:51This is something that is valid also for my personal life.
23:55It's something that you can definitely apply to your personal life.
23:58You apply it to a brand.
24:00Amazing.
24:02And what's your advice to any budding fashion artists or designers?
24:07I have no advice for designers.
24:12I think being an artist is being very special already.
24:19If I have to give advice to work in fashion,
24:22it would be being flexible, really.
24:28It was very helpful for me to be like this.
24:33Would be to trust people, to empower them,
24:39because it leaves you also the time to do other stuff.
24:44And to adapt to our times.
24:49That's the little advice I would give to designers.
24:52Love it.
24:54Carl, thank you so much for your time.
24:56This is definitely not going to be the last conversation we have together.
25:00I hope so.
25:02Hopefully we can stay in touch, find out what's new and we'll meet again.
25:05My pleasure.
25:07Thank you so much.