Karl Lagerfeld
Jean-Paul Gaultier
April 25, 2020Kenzo
April 25, 2020
Arguably the most acclaimed fashion designer in the world, Karl Lagerfeld was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1933. As a child, he was constantly sketching, and claimed to have learned more at the Kunsthalle Hamburg museum than he ever did at school. He was greatly inspired by French art, and said he had stayed in school in order to learn French and to live one day in France. After winning a design competition in Paris and befriending Yves Saint Laurent, Lagerfeld was hired as an assistant at Balmain for four years before moving to Jean Patou where he became artistic director at the young age of 21.
In 1967, Lagerfeld was hired by Fendi to modernize their fur line. He brought innovative techniques and fur variations to the house and remained with the company until his death. After joining Chanel in 1983, he revived the brand to become the most profitable French fashion house, creating iconic items such as the double C logo and the tweed jacket, remaining at the helm until his death. In 1984, he began his eponymous line “Karl Lagerfeld”, combining Parisian elegance with effortless rock-chic in men’s and women’s collections and accessories.
Lagerfeld was indeed an eccentric man, a workaholic who owned 300 iPods, a devourer of books with a library of over 300,000 books, and a converted cat lover. He’s been called out by some to be vain, misogynistic, fatphobic, and racist. However it’s all a part of his unforgettable, unforgiving, enigmatic persona, and he remains renowned for his sharp wit, cultured vision and cutting-edge innovations, hailed by Vogue magazine as the “unparalleled interpreter of the mood of the moment.” King Karl, as he is nicknamed, will forever be remembered as a fashion legend unlike any other.
