Mathieu, a member of the French institute in Irkutsk, is arrested overnight by the Russian authorities. Imprisoned and accused of sexual abuse on his own daughter, he realises he is a victim of a Kompromat. With the help of the FSB, someone has built up a case to frame him. Isolated, he has no one to turn to. Proving his innocence is impossible: the only solution is to escape.

In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld is an unknown 38-year-old designer of ready-to-wear fashion, largely unknown to the public. His encounter with the young Jacques de Bascher, an ambitious and seductive dandy, changes everything.