I first heard about Vie Revée – Thadée Klossowski de Rola’s memoirs – through Karl Lagerfeld. “The book is really charming,” Karl said, with a soft smile. And ‘charming’ is the perfect word for Thadée...
I first heard about Vie Revée – Thadée Klossowski de Rola’s memoirs – through Karl Lagerfeld. “The book is really charming,” Karl said, with a soft smile. And ‘charming’ is the perfect word for Thadée – a male beauty who wears it lightly – and Vie Revée, which dates from 1965-1977 and was taken from his journal.
Initially, I met Thadée with Loulou de la Falaise, his late and much-missed wife. Being the partner of Yves Saint Laurent’s favoured muse could have been trying for most men. However, whatever the occasion, Thadée proved to be apt. In character, he appeared suitably detached and – via well-cut, understated suits and coats – defined stylish nonchalance. Thinking back, his lack of ego and pride in Loulou’s success was both admirable and gracious. That said, Vie Revée reveals he was hiding his light under a bushel which is rare and, actually, so attractive.
"Being the partner of Yves Saint Laurent’s favoured muse could have been trying for most men. However, whatever the occasion, Thadée proved to be apt"
Of course, being the son of the painter Balthus and Antoinette de Watteville – the Swiss aristocrat – gave social flair and entrée to Thadée. For instance, upon arrival in Paris, Diane Bataille, Georges’s wife, helped him settle in. Still, there’s such a lack of arrogance to the pages of Vie Revée. Thadée is there in the company of Andy Warhol, Helmut Berger, Lili Volpi, Saint Laurent and other monstre sacrés and, instead of claiming self-importance – the fiendish pest of most autobiographies – he draws attention to unusual details and admissions. Bringing to mind elements of Camus’s L’Etranger and Huysmans’s A Rebours, Thadée’s life is a dreamy haze, punctuated with drôle moments like a friend’s toddler sucking a cigarette at a social gathering or Loulou’s childish amusement when discovering that the assistant of Thadée’s uncle, a distinguished gynaecologist, is called ‘Pussy.’ Vie Revée deserves to be savoured and re-read.
Text by Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni
Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni is a Paris-based British writer who covers fashion and lifestyle as well as being the author of Sam Spiegel – The Biography of A Hollywood Legend, Understanding Chic, an essay from the Paris Was Ours anthology, the soon-to-be released Tino Zervudachi – A Portfolio – as well as the Chanel book, for Assouline's fashion series.
Robert Beck is former New Yorker currently based in Paris. Also known as C.J. Rabbitt, he is the author and illustrator of several children's books, including The Tale of Rabbitt in Paradise, Un Lapin à Paris and the soon-to-be-published A Bunny in the Ballet.
