It’s Berlin Fashion Week, which always brings to mind the self-proclaimed Prince of Fashion a.k.a. Harald Glöckler. Feels like a fitting time to dig up our old interview with this Renaissance man and remind the world of one of the all-time (and quotable) greats. Long may Harald reign!
On respect: “I don’t need to be respected, because I’m the most successful designer in Germany, and if they respect me or not, it doesn’t matter. They have investors, they have a show, they sell nothing. The fashion world is very snobby. It’s nice to be respected, but if they don’t, it’s not my problem.”
On confidence: “Someone else said I look like the son of Liza Minnelli and David Gest. The point is, it doesn’t matter what people write about you in the blogs, the important thing is that you are recognized. The only bad thing is to be boring. So they started to call me the ‘Prince of Fashion.’ And now I’ve changed it to the ‘Prince of Pompöös.’ I don’t do just fashion. My success happened because I’m very authentic—people love that. And at the end, I’m a very clever businessman.”
On who he would dress for the Oscars: “Let me think about it. [Long pause] Cher. I think she’s great.”
On potential Broadway aspirations: “I don’t know. There are big companies that are thinking about doing some shows, but not a musical. They’ve spoken about Las Vegas and Broadway. You see, so many people are coming to me. Chaka Khan said to me, ‘One day, the ship will come.’ It’s like this—if you find big success, you just get more, and more, and more.”
Lastly, he says things like this: “Plastic surgery is neither good or bad. It’s necessary.”