Chanel creative slams selfie trend

Fashion Designer Karl Lagerfeld (right) and model Cara Delevingne appear at the end of the runway during the Chanel show as part of the Paris Fashion Week. Photo / Getty Images

Karl Lagerfeld has likened the selfie trend to "electronic masturbation".

The Chanel creative director has no problem speaking his mind, with his latest target the current craze for posting self-taken pictures online.

He cannot understand what drives people to do this, insisting they very rarely look good.

"They are this horrible thing where you are distorted," he told British newspaper The Guardian. "The chin is too big, the head is too small. No, this is electronic masturbation."

Lagerfield flung out many of his infamous soundbites during the interview, including slamming people who have tattoos as they "will never get clean again".

He also warned women to take extra care of themselves once they turn 25, as after that age it is easy to become "sloppy".

The Chanel designer is renowned for pushing the boundaries of fashion. His recent autumn/winter 14 collection was presented against a supermarket backdrop, with models such as Cara Delevingne pushing shopping carts around as they showed off the pieces.

Once the show had ended, many in the audience scrambled to take a piece from the Chanel store's shelves, leaving Lagerfield unimpressed.

"I saw it on film later and the bodyguards were removing things from people's bags. I didn't expect that of people who normally come to my shows," he stated, adding the food items were due to be sent to homeless shelters.

As well as his work with Chanel, Lagerfield designs for Fendi and has his own label too. It means he creates around 17 collections annually, but he doesn't view himself as busy.

He says he loves his job so it doesn't feel like work, and he still worries about achieving all he wants to.

"I'm never happy and pleased with what I'm doing," he said. "I always think I'm lazy, maybe I could do better, I could make more effort and I always have the feeling that there is a glass wall that I cannot get through. But maybe when I get through, then it's over."

Lagerfield is also clear about the distinctions between his brands. His label tends to be less expensive than the others, and he's explained why.

"You cannot dance at three parties on the same evening. I always said to my investors to put it on another level and make it affordable. I think that's a modern attitude," he said.

Karl Lagerfeld didn't seem too excited about taking a selfie with model Cara Delevingne:

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