Drinking With Karl Lageferfeld ( Interview)

Creator, photographer, designer and editor Karl Lagerfeld likes nothing more than expanding his modes of expression. And what better way to do that than to present his first line of crystal

products with Orrefors.

With an insatiable curiosity, always in search of new creative experiences, this multifaceted artist has had an uncommonly rich career, during which he has developed a perfectly chiseled graphic identity. And now the clean lines and streamlined design of that universe grace this inimitable collection of glasses, bowls and vases. In transparent, black or milky white crystal, the series unites the strict lines and contemporary elegance of Karl Lagerfeld with the exacting quality and expertise that has characterized Orrefors for over a century.

Read Karl Lagerfeld  talking about his new home accessories project at the  Architectural Digest.

Architectural Digest: Home accessories by Lagerfeld?

Karl Lagerfeld: I wanted to design glasses for my houses, something I had never done. Simple as that. I told Orrefors, “I am only interested in this one thing—are you interested?” They were, and here we are.

AD: Chanel was fine with it?

KL: I can do whatever I want. Exclusivité is very démodé.

AD: You even helped design the packaging.

KL: It was a package deal! No, let’s say “total concept.” Orrefors was extremely pleasant to work with. At many companies there are too many little chefs who make things more difficult.

AD: Did you go to Sweden to work on the collection?

KL: I never go anywhere. I do sketches and make phone calls, and people visit. It’s more fun to come to Paris.

AD: Why the limited palette?

KL: I am a black-and-white person. Some grays, some dirty pinks, not flashy pinks. I have never been obsessed with color, I cannot explain why. I wanted to become an illustrator as a child. Black-and-white always looks modern, whatever that word means.

AD: Each glass comes with a matching coaster, which you call a “coupette.”

KL: Glasses ruin the surface of a table. You need a little napkin or a bit of paper, like for beer drinkers. Now we have a glass coaster for the glass. All the pieces are the same size on the bottom, so the coupettes fit everything. I don’t understand why nobody ever thought of it before.

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