"I love the smell of building sites," says clothes designer Karl Lagerfeld to the camera in this ride-along by a verite camera crew, with less MTV editing tricks than the usual "entertainment news" kitsch, as we vicariously experience the glittery routine of the Paris-based fashion icon.

Though he claims to value his privacy, Lagerfeld has cultivated a media presence as carefully coiffed as any of his mannequins, with his sunglasses, quasi-clerical vestments, fingers encrusted with rings, and no shortage of philosophical bon mots ("Fashion is ephemeral. Dangerous and unfair").

He talks a bit about his upbringing, his mother, his homosexual personal life (a victim of underage rape, he agrees with mom that he brought it on himself with his precocity) and, in terms disappointingly short on specifics, about his revitalizing the Chanel brand name. The feature's more about attitude than the details of a working fashionista. Our hero disdains giving the appearance of being a relentless workaholic, so he enjoys the best hotels, villas, chateaux, ballets, runway shows, book and iPod collections, whatever.

And he still has his childhood pillow with him on trips because his tummy gets upset without it. Donald Trump ought to learn some French; he might sound more savoir faire indeed. Since 1987 Lagerfeld has done his own photo shoots - having proven impossible to please otherwise - which is pretty cool, and there's a big build-up to Nicole Kidman doing a guest-modeling gig for his lens. Did your heart skip a beat at that? Then Lagerfield Confidential, which shows this week to correspond with Fashion Week, is your movie. If not, move on.

Lagerfield Confidential: 7 p.m. Friday, May 2, at Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall.