It is with deep sadness that the world has learned yesterday that the great guru of the fashion world, Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of Fendi and Chanel, has passed away in Paris. The cause of Lagerfeld’s death is still unknown.
Who was Karl Lagerfeld?
Even though the exact year of Lagerfeld’s birth is a bit of a mystery, as Lagerfeld was known for misinterpreting his actual year of birth, claiming to be younger than he actually was, it is believed that Lagerfeld was born 1933 in Hamburg, Germany.
The background of his parents was also something that he liked to tell tales of. It is known however that his father was a businessman and his mother was a lingerie sales woman.
From his early years, young Karl Lagerfeld was already very fashion-aware. He used to pay attention to what other kids wore at school and he liked to cut out pictures from fashion magazines.
As a teenager, being only 14 years old, Lagerfeld moved to Paris, France. He soon took part in a design competition where he won first place in the category for best coat. During this competition he met and befriended the now renown designer Yves Saint Laurent, who also took first place in that competition, but in the category for best dress.
After his success in the fashion competition, Lagerfeld first became an assistant for the legendary designer Pierre Balmain and then his apprentice. Three years later he left and started working for another famous designer, Jean Patou for a short period of time.
His career was skyrocketing at this time, he designed collections for Chloé, Valentino and Fendi, among others. Fendi hired Lagerfeld to modernize their fur line, where he made a groundbreaking change of bringing animals such as mole, squirrel and rabbits into the high fashion fur line. Lagerfeld stayed with Fendi until his death on February 19th 2019.
He was valued for his innovative thinking, but he, himself also knew how to appreciate the past. He enjoyed roaming around flea markets, where he would look for wedding dresses that he would then deconstruct and reimagine.
By the beginning of the 80’s, Lagerfeld has become a big star in the fashion industry. He had many friends among other stars of that time, such as the famous artist Andy Warhol. At this time, Lagerfeld was hired by the fashion house Chanel, who since the death of Coco Chanel 10 years prior, was considered a dying brand. Lagerfeld brought success back into Chanel by revamping the brand’s ready-to-wear line. He also transformed the famous interlocked ‘’CC’’ monogram into a style pattern for the brand.
Lagerfeld then established his own Karl Lagerfeld brand, channeling intellectual sexiness.
One of the most famous moments of Lagerfeld’s life, was his shocking 90’s fashion show that forced the US Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour to stand up and walk out. Lagerfeld hired strippers and a famous adult-film star Moana Pozzi to walk in his fashion show for Fendi. As expected, this move was highly controversial at the time.
In the early 2000’s, he designed a more affordable collection for a wider public in a collaboration with HM, which was a huge success. He also designed a line of glassware for a Swedish company Orrefos and created a clothing collection for Macy’s.
The public’s concerns regarding Lagerfeld’s state of health sparked when he missed Chanel’s fashion show in Paris in the beginning of 2019, as he has never missed his own show before. The fashion house however explained his absence as simple exhaustion.
On the 19th of February 2019, not only the fashion world, but the whole world grieved, as it was announced that the legendary fashion icon, Karl Lagerfeld has passed away.
We are forever grateful for the contribution this great man has brought into the fashion industry.
Thank you, Karl.
Love,
Melanie