Sébastien Jondeau has come to the Felix Jud bookstore in Hamburg to present “Ça va, cher Karl?”, his memoirs of Karl Lagerfeld, which have now also been published in German (Insel-Verlag).

Jondeau, who was born in Paris in 1975 and grew up in the suburbs, has been the driver, bodyguard and confidant of the fashion designer, who died in 2019, since 1999.

The forty-seven-year-old lives in Ramatuelle near Saint-Tropez and is believed to be one of Lagerfeld's seven heirs.

He works as a product consultant for the Karl Lagerfeld brand.

His first sportswear collection, Rue St. Guillaume Menswear Athleisure, hit stores this month.

In Hamburg he was interviewed by fashion woman Christiane Arp in front of an audience at the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, and later he was asked to do a book signing with Felix Jud.

Alphonse Kaiser

Responsible editor for the department "Germany and the World" and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin.

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What do you eat for breakfast?

I mix oatmeal, banana, almond milk and the white of the egg and boil it up.

Plus a coffee.

Where do you buy your clothes?

All over.

In Saint-Tropez I like to go to Battaglia, you can find a lot of different things there.

And I like going to Dior.

I like the designer Kim Jones, who designs the menswear for Dior.

What is the oldest item of clothing in your closet?

A military style jacket from Libertine.

Without sewn flag, but with many applications.

Karl gave it to me, probably 15 years ago.

I still wear it often, it goes with everything.

When was the last time you wrote a letter by hand?

At the end of the year I always send out a lot of handwritten cards.

What book has impressed you the most in life?

In my youth the story of the violent criminal Jacques Mesrine.

There's also a great movie about it, starring Vincent Cassel, Public Enemy No.

1".

How do you find out about world events?

Every morning I watch TV news for half an hour.

And I read Figaro on my cell phone.

What's your favorite small talk topic?

People ask me about my life and about sports: water skiing, boxing and so on.

What was the last movie that made you cry?

On Joker, with Joaquin Phoenix, very strong, very cruel.

That really takes you away.

Are you superstitious?

Yes, I am.

I will not go under an erected ladder.

And if a black cat crosses my path, I'll stop, go back and take another path.

What can you laugh about?

About me.

'Cause I'm often complicated for nothing

your favorite first name?

Strange question!

Never thought about it!

But if I had a son, I would name him Milo.

I do not know why.

Do you take a lunch break?

Of course, every day.

I don't work much, I have time for it.

I always had lunch with Karl too.

That's part of it in France.

In which country would you like to live?

I love my country, especially the south.

I also love the south of Morocco.

I go to Dakhla on the Atlantic coast for kite surfing and boxing.

A very special place, almost on the border with Mauritania.

High waves, a great lagoon, very hot but with a lot of wind.

Magical!

What's never missing in your fridge?

Yogurt.

My friends make fun of me when they look in my fridge.

Do you feel freer with or without a car?

By car.

I have two cars: a Hummer H2 that runs on ethanol and an electric jeep.

I used to have ten cars, Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Ferrari and so on.

I didn't even know which car to take if I wanted to drive away.

I no longer have the problem.

Luckily, the only thing I miss is being able to take life easier

What's your greatest talent?

to ride a motorcycle.

I'm better at that than driving a car.

When I had a serious accident once, I only rode mountain bikes for a while, but downhill.

And that's not much less dangerous than motocross.

What do you do when it's unreasonable?

All this nonsense: Downhill mountain biking like I'm 15 years old when I'm 47. My brother is like that.

Which historical person would you like to meet?

Leonardo da Vinci.

A genius!

What he has invented, and in very different areas.

Do you wear jewellery?

And a watch?

An Apple Watch that my girlfriend gave me for Christmas.

I also have many other watches because Karl was crazy about watches and very generous.

I usually wear an Audemars Piguet or a Patek Philippe.

And I often wear a bracelet made by my friend Cyril Aaron Bismuth.

Do you have a favorite scent?

Sure, the one I'm wearing!

Bois d'Iris by Van Cleef & Arpels.

What was your best holiday experience?

My friend Richard Virenque, the former cyclist, has a house on St. Martin, the Caribbean island, in the southern part that belongs to the Netherlands.

Being there – these are the best vacations.

What concert were you at last?

That was a long time ago because of Corona.

That was Soprano, in October 2019 at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille.

He's the best new French pop star.

And a really nice and smart man, very successful - and yet kept his feet on the ground.

Luckily, what are you missing?

to take life easier.

That's why I wrote the book "Now!

The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle.

I am of course blessed with luck, I will never forget that.

But I would like to be really free inside.

what do you drink for dinner

Water.

Sometimes I drink a beer, preferably Corona, sometimes red wine, but mostly water.