Stephen Colbert once said that his main interest is in power and the people who don’t have any.

I tripped up on a GIF the other month of Karl Lagerfeld walking through what looked like a rodeo stadium, the canted seats just rammed with people. He walks to the middle of it, stands and says “I’m done.” The crowd goes nuts. A phalanx of supermodels appear from the doors behind him, prized livestock released from their traps, walking towards him and applauding. He turns, walks through them as they advance, and disappears through the doors.

The context is obvious, of course: he’d just displayed a collection, the final piece had been clotheshorsed through, and the performance was complete.

But there is something peculiar and almost thrilling about an old man getting a floor-stomping rafters-lifting storm of applause out of standing there and saying “I’m done.” If you look at it for long enough, it becomes a seriously weird projection of power.

Reading: EVENT by Slavoj Zizek.