Karl Lagerfeld made his first trip to Moscow last week to show his Paris-Moscow pre-fall collection for Chanel. He also squeezed in a photo shoot of Naomi Campbell, who has a Russian boyfriend and modeled the collection for V magazine. But just because Karl was inspired by Moscow and named the collection after the city doesn't mean he has to like it. After just a day in town he'd already racked up a list of complaints, first and foremost that the men in Moscow aren't hot enough. From WWD:

    “I think the women are better than the men. I think if I were a woman here, I would be a lesbian,” he said sardonically, wearing dark glasses, a custom-made high-collared shirt and a Martin Margiela suit and tie.

    But then, remembering whom he’d just photographed, he added: “I met only one very handsome man — that’s the boyfriend of Naomi [real-estate mogul Vladislav Doronin]. He’s quite stunning. With the others, maybe I don’t have the right eye.”

After the severe dearth of eye candy, Karl lamented over the cuisine. He hates borscht, because he was forced to eat it once a week as a child. Also, none of the restaurants could prepare the steamed fish and grilled vegetables he subsists on to his liking. Luckily he brought his own food — "cornbread and a protein source," according to WWD.

He said he didn't do any sightseeing because he is an "informed person" and has already read about all the old buildings there are to see. And besides, he prefers to read about places rather than go to them, because in his mind things are perfect, while in the real world, they are ugly. And taste like borscht. "You’re never disappointed by your imagination, but you can be very disappointed by reality,” he says. Anyway, people in Moscow really enjoyed his fashion show.

 

 

Last night at ten in Paris, Karl Lagerfeld presented his fall 2009 Chanel couture collection. Cathy Horyn visited the Kaiser the day before the show and asked him about the rumors that recently surfaced about him retiring and Alber Elbaz taking his place at Chanel.

    Mr. Lagerfeld said to forget about it. He was going to die with his boots on. He also mentioned that Alain Wertheimer, whose family owns Chanel, said he would sell the house when the designer leaves. This might not be the case, Mr. Lagerfeld said, but it was a nice thing to be told.

Thank goodness. A Chanel collection without the Kaiser would be like a margarita without the tequila — no kick, a waste of calories. His collection last night, presented against a backdrop of four giant Chanel No. 5 perfume bottles, contained a flap motif. Almost every look had a flap of fabric hanging off it, with some extending to the floor for extra drama. These are not to be confused with trains, which Karl says are “pretentious.” Although WWD calls the collection low-key, Horyn notes that the house of Chanel is the last place you’d notice the recession. Over to Karl: “We make a lot of money.” Stay tuned for more runway images. Amy Odell