My laptop is stuck at the repair shop till Christmas – thanks @Apple for the buggy butterfly keyboard 😉 – and I currently have to use my pad to write the blog. A bit tricky, and that’s why it’s gonna be a short posts this week. Looking towards 2020 though, I have some long-reads in the pipeline again, concerning taxes as an (early) retiree for example.
So today I’ll share some film tips with you, featuring two of my ‘heroes’. And – this might surprise you – they’re not finance gurus, high-profile entrepreneurs, or top-performing athletes, but creatives: Iris Apfel and Karl Lagerfeld. You’re probably familiar with Karl Lagerfeld, maybe not so much with Iris Apfel. But if you live in Germany, you might have noticed her on one of the recent Spiegel magazine covers: oblong face, short hair, red lipstick, gigantic round glasses – and unmistakably quite old.
Iris Apfel started out in business together with her husband designing and manufacturing textiles, and extended into taking over complete interior design projects. The couple traveled the world in this capacity. But she only became known to a broader public after pieces from her immense collection of clothes, shoes and accessories got featured in the Rara Avis exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Following that, she’s got involved in an apparently unstoppable flow of new projects, at the ripe age of 97 now.
So my first film recommendation for you is Iris, from 2014. It’s a document to a very interesting life story, a real feel-good-booster, and a touching love story. Is there anything better for a hygge December week-end evening on your couch :-)? The movie was originally availble with a Netflix subscription I think, but it doesn’t seem to be available now. But you can find an upload on Youtube, or maybe borrow it from your public library.
You’ve probably heard of Karl Lagerfeld who unfortunately passed away early this year. What I always found fascinating about him was the complexity of his personality: immensely creative as both fashion designer and photographer, perfectionist, extremely well read and cultivated, a life-long learner. Someone who always thought forward, and didn’t rest on his laurels. An individualist who strategically stage-managed his public persona, none the least by cutting out any real insights into his private world and mind. In today’s world I found this refreshingly discreet and ‘old-school’ in the very best sense. Very sad to see him go.
If you’re interested in the fashion business and what’s happening around the haute couture shows in Paris, you can check out a great mini-series produced by ARTE: Signé Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld right in the middle of the action. It’s available on DVD, but you’ll find it on Youtube as well. But my recommendation for you today is the documentary Lagerfeld Confidential from 2007 which is about Karl Lagerfeld himself. Again, the film is available on DVD, new or used via Amazon. But maybe in your public library as well, and you should be able to find it on Youtube (there are different language versions). Great soundtrack, too.
That’s all for today. Let yourself be inspired by Iris and Karl…
Katrin / Financial Independence Rocks.
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