I'm German in my mind, but from a Germany that doesn't exist any more.
Interpretation
This quote reflects a sense of nostalgia for a bygone era in Germany, highlighting a conflict between identity and change.
Karl Lagerfeld's quote expresses a deep sense of personal and cultural identity tied to a Germany that no longer exists. It suggests that one's mental and emotional sense of self can be influenced by historical contexts, where the individual's mindset may be anchored in a past that has transformed or faded away, leading to a contemplation of how identity can be shaped by history and loss.
In practice
In a discussion about cultural identity during a conference.
I believe in sketching because there is something very sensitive in sketching, you know, in sketches that you don't have out of a computer that looks the same like everybody even if, later on, the dresses are OK, but I like to sketch, and I like to see trails made after my sketches that look the same. It is you know, what I like.
I'm open to everything. When you start to criticize the times you live in, your time is over.
If I could be reincarnated as a fashion accessory, it would be a shopping bag.
Chic is a kind of mayonnaise, either it tastes, or it doesn't.
Why should I stop working? If I do, I'll die and it'll all be finished. 'm lucky to work in the most perfect of conditions. I can do what I want in all kinds of areas. The expenses are not expenses. I would be stupid to stop that. Work is making a living out of being bored.
Elegance has nothing to do with fashion.
Once a man is united to God, how could he not live forever?
Neither failure nor success has the power to change your inner state of Being.
The idol is the expression of religion.
We must differentiate between guilt and duty. The soldier on the front, like the common man, who does his duty everywhere, should not be held responsible for the actions of a few who also called themselves Germans.
After all, the only thing that is going to save mankind is if enough people live their lives for something or someone other than themselves.
He was a thorough good sort; a bit limited; a bit thick in the head; yes; but a thorough good sort. Whatever he took up he did in the same matter-of-fact sensible way; without a touch of imagination, without a sparkle of brilliancy, but with the inexplicable niceness of his type.
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