"The first time that Karl really registered with me in a deep way was in the early aughts," Nick Hooker says. "I was watchingMeet the Pressand Dick Cheney was being interviewed by Tim Russert, and I thoughtI can't watch this. So, I started changing channels and landed on this footage of a black limousine driving through the streets of Paris." The car drove to a little farm outside the city, where a seamstress had been making ribbon; she handed it off to the driver in a supermarket shopping bag and he drove it to the Rue Cambon, where it was sewn onto sleeves and, three days later, sent down a Chanel runway. After the show, at a small gathering, Karl Lagerfeld appeared. "He went right up to her," Hooker recalls, "and says, 'Thank you so much, we're so lucky to have you, you're such a genius.' And I thoughtwow, this is so beautiful; on one channel there had been this dark, horrible story and then there was this person balancing the scales. I never lost that." Apparently not. Today,Karl, Hooker's documentary about the life and work of Lagerfeld, premieres at the Telluride Film Festival—and just as the designer has held Hooker's interest for years thanks to his singular talent, relentless drive, and one-of-a-kind persona, the director believes he'll do the same for audiences. "He had a dedication and an incredible sense of optimism about the world, about people, and about creativity and the power of art," Hooker says. "Not frivolous things but means of coping with a world which can be incredibly dark and terrifying at times." That belief is echoed by the voices in the film, which includes revealing interviews with Lagerfeld friends and colleagues like Pat Cleveland, Penélope Cruz, Lily-Rose Depp, Silvia Fendi, Tom Ford, Vanessa Paradis, Paloma Picasso, Tilda Swinton, and more. What comes across is a loving, nuanced portrait of Lagerfeld not only as a creative powerhouse, but as the driven young man who would find his way to fame. "There's a line at the beginning of the film," Hooker recalls, "when he talks about being an antenna, and his constant intake of music. Michel Gaubert, who did all the music for Karl, would go over once a week and drop off iPods loaded with the latest music, and Karl would listen to it all. He wanted to be infected with everything going on in the world—music, film, all of it. So, when the moment happened and he suddenly became a superstar he was completely ready. He said, 'I know exactly how to do this. I've been training for this for years." You Might Also Like 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion 13 Beauty Tools to Up Your At-Home Facial Game