Legendary Designer Karl Lagerfeld Opens Up Intimately On His Ex-Boyfriend

Jacques de Bascher, who was Karl Lagerfeld’s partner for close to two decades, is the subject of a revealing new book that sheds light on the man at the center of one of fashion’s most famous feuds in the Seventies.
De Bascher was little-known outside fashion industry circles until 2006, when Alicia Drake published “The Beautiful Fall: Fashion, Genius and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris,” focusing on the rivalry between Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent stoked by de Bascher’s involvement with both men.Lagerfeld famously took Drake to court over the book, but recently agreed to sit down with another journalist, Marie Ottavi, to share his most intimate memories to date.Lagerfeld portrayed him as cultivated and multilingual, with a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of humor. Both men were fascinated by titles and genealogy, with de Bascher fond of emphasizing his aristocratic roots. The German designer has explained before that they never had sex, despite being together for 18 years.The Chanel creative director remained loyal to his boyfriend (despite his well-known affair with Yves Saint Laurent) until he died of AIDS in 1989 at the age of 38. He slept in a cot next to Bascher’s hospital bedside.