Remember not long ago when someone put Karl Lagerfeld in front of a reporter for a Paris newspaper and he said a bunch of Lagerfeldian things, among them calling Adele fat? I don’t blame you if you’ve forgotten; after all, Karl’s verbal antics are so common that all the supposedly insulting things he’s said tend to blend together after a while. When the object of his mild derision is someone as universally beloved as British chanteuse Adele, though, the anecdote is too juicy not to repeat.
Rumor has it that Karl is actually capable for regretting things that he’s said, though, or at least regretting that they were “taken our of context.” (Please. We all know how Karl feels about fatties.) The Sun (a British tabloid, so this story very well may be a complete fabrication) reports that in order to smooth things over and perhaps woo Adele into fronting the Mademoiselle bag line after Blake Lively’s contract ends, Lagerfeld has apologized in the only way that really matters: He sent her a metric ton of Chanel handbags.
In the grand tradition of tabloid journalsim, the article takes all of its information from an anonymous source who was apparently listening closely while on set for a Chanel YouTube channel shoot. Lagerfeld reportedly felt badly that his statements about Adele were construed as insulting, when in reality, he thinks she’s great. But what of Adele and the handbags?
Apparently Adele is something of a bag collector, which is likely no surprise to anyone slightly above fashion’s preferred weight range – bags always fit and every boutique carries your size, even the ones that don’t have pants above an 8. Also, despite Lagerfeld’s widely known preferences for thinness, Chanel has long made many of its garments in sizes that range into the traditional “plus” spectrum – after all, many of the brand’s high-dollar customers are older women, who are, on average, larger than their youthful counterparts. Size 2s may be great for the runway, but Chanel has a business to run.
Adele’s penchant for wearing little black dresses in all their forms and variations also fits well with the Chanel aesthetic, so seeing her attached to the brand’s advertising might be unexpected, but it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad fit. On top of all that, do you think a bunch of Chanel handbags is a reasonable apology for being insulted? I do; in fact, I’d be happy to have Karl call me fat any day of the week. Even if it were for just one bag! I can be bought, and my price isn’t all that high.
