Karl Lagerfeld stands alone in the fashion world. Because of his intellect, because of his mastery of dressmaking, because of his German love of literature and humor, because of his evergreen curiosity, he alone among the designers of his generation has stayed vital and contemporary.
In addition to creating haute couture and ready-to-wear collections for Chanel, his main employer for a quarter century, Mr. Lagerfeld designs for Fendi and his own line. He takes photographs. He publishes books and operates a book shop in Paris. A sighting of Mr. Lagerfeld on the streets, in his ponytail and customary high-collared shirt, can instantly produce a crowd.
On Nov. 12, 2004, more than 1,000 people entered H&M on Fifth Avenue in the first hour of business to buy the collection he had specially designed -- the first such collaboration in H&M’s history. As Mr. Lagerfeld said with a typical blend of self-awareness and self-mockery, “I’m like a personage who’s nearly unrelated to fashion.”
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Yet few would deny the depth of his knowledge about fashion. He was trained in couture in the 1950s by people who were themselves trained in the 1920s, and it’s safe to say there is not a technique or trick he does not know. He frequently claims to be the most superficial of people, and to an extent his clothes for Chanel reflect that lightness, with their flourishes and double entendres.
In explaining his methods, Ingrid Sischy, an editor and a friend of Mr. Lagerfeld’s, told The New York Times: “On the surface it can seem almost like nothing. But as the years go by you see the depth. That’s what makes Karl an extraordinary postmodernist.”
Mr. Lagerfeld was born in Germany in either 1933 or 1939; his official biography says 1939, but childhood contemporaries have been quoted as confirming the earlier date. His father owned a condensed-milk factory. During World War II, he and his family lived in Hamburg, but moved to the countryside before the bombings of 1943.
He emigrated to Paris in the early ’50s and in that decade began his career at Balmain. He was hired after he won a competition sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat, for a coat design.
He left for Patou, then worked as a freelance designer for several houses, including Krizia and Charles Jourdan. In the ’70s, he worked for Chloé, his ultrafeminine dresses and coats generally earning raves. He began designing for Chanel in 1983. And by 1997, Vogue had crowned him the “unparalleled interpreter of the mood of the moment.”
Mr. Lagerfeld has resisted the idea of owning a fashion house. “I wanted a kind of freedom,” he explained. “I didn’t want to be a businessman. I don’t make meetings. I don’t do marketing. I just work like this. I have the feeling -- it may be fake -- of total freedom. This is my highest luxury.”
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Highlights From the Archives
The Rootin' Teuton
By CATHY HORYN
Behind the dark glasses and the extravagant pose is Karl Lagerfeld, a simple man with a complicated patrimony.
February 20, 2005StyleNewsMovie Review | 'Lagerfeld Confidential'
Chanel’s Visionary, Holding Forth From His Designer Throne
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Those seeking career advice about how to become an emperor of fashion will find little if any useful information in “Lagerfeld Confidential.”
October 24, 2007MoviesReviewWhen the Label Says Lagerfeld
By CATHY HORYN and ERIC WILSON
The star designer stays in the background as a team creates his new line. Will customers go for it?
February 2, 2006FashionNewsStyle Desk
A Designer at His Peak Without a Label
By CATHY HORYN
Karl Lagerfeld, who is to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America tomorrow, is the only leading designer not to have a permanent house under his own name. Mr. Lagerfeld, 63, has been without a fixed fashion address for more than four decades.
June 2, 2002StyleNewsFashion Review
Chanel Clings to Trends; YSL Hugs the Logo
By CATHY HORYN
The frenzy of the fashion world seemed to bring Stefano Pilati to a Zen crawl at Yves Saint Laurent, while it made Karl Lagerfeld see stars and stripes — and inevitably, dollar signs — at Chanel.
October 6, 2007FashionReviewLagerfeld Changes Direction With Ease
By ERIC WILSON
Reviews of the Karl Lagerfeld, Sophia Kokosalaski, Dries van Noten and Valentino shows.
October 5, 2006FashionReviewFall Forecast: Dark, Solemn and Lagerfeld
By CATHY HORYN
In closing the New York season with predominantly black and brown clothes, Karl Lagerfeld confirmed the shift toward a more solemn outlook for fall.
February 13, 2006FashionNewsMetropolitan Desk
Front Row; Off-the-Rack Lagerfeld, at H&M
By CATHY HORYN
Karl Lagerfeld has given himself a new task: designing a small line of clothing and accessories for H&M, the Stockholm-based mass retailer.
June 22, 2004New York and RegionNewsArticles
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The Paris Accord
By CATHY HORYN
Karl Lagerfeld and John Galliano order from a catalog of shapes in their haute-couture collections.
July 3, 2008In Orbit Around Lagerfeld
By ERIC WILSON
“Lagerfeld Confidential,” a new documentary on Karl Lagerfeld by Rodolphe Marconi, opens at the Film Forum in Manhattan.
October 25, 2007In a Garden of Flowers, Not a Whiff of Cynicism
By ERIC WILSON
The rising tension between fetishism and femininity in the spring collections shown in Paris this week has become a battle of gladiators versus gladioli.
October 5, 2007The Knockoff Won’t Be Knocked Off
By ERIC WILSON
With media coverage of fashion so broad and instantaneous, consumers have been conditioned to seek out the latest styles and they expect more for less.
September 9, 2007Inès de la Fressange | Style Emissary
By ALEX HAWGOOD
Ms. Fressange, a roving ambassador for Roger Vivier accessories, refuses to take fashion too seriously.
August 26, 2007At Versace, a Testament to Genius
By CATHY HORYN
Reviews of the Versace, Fendi, Missoni, Moschino, Dsquared and Ferré collections.
February 26, 2007Making Money in Multiples
By ERIC WILSON
Fast fashion collections like those of Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Isaac Mizrahi have brought good design to the masses, but what have they brought to designers?
January 18, 2007A World View
By BILL CUNNINGHAM
The scene in Paris earlier this month clearly showed that Karl Lagerfeld maintains his voice on the way many women dress around the world.
October 29, 2006Celebrating a ‘Mythic Time’ of Decadence and Creation
By RUTH LA FERLA
Alicia Drake looks at the fashion tribe watching its own reflection in the mirror in her book “The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent and Glorious Excess in 1970’s Paris.”
October 5, 2006Designing Men
By CAROLINE WEBER
The bitter rivalry between Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld.
September 17, 2006SEARCH 216 Articles:
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Blog
On the Runway
Cathy Horyn posts about Karl Lagerfeld.
Karl Lagerfeld Navigator
A list of resources from around the Web about Karl Lagerfeld as selected by researchers and editors of The New York Times.
Chanel site Karl Lagerfeld brand Web site Biography at vogue.com Other Coverage
Profile in The New Yorker Article from New York Magazine Lagerfeld spring 2008 ready-to-wear collection on style.com Karl Lagerfeld's dieting advice, on slate.com Blogs
Fashion@NYPL By Paula Baxter, the New York Public Library Multimedia
Slide Show
Couture Collections in Paris
Photos from the Chanel, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix, Givenchy and Jean Paul Gaultier haute-couture collections in Paris.
Slide Show
Making a Scene: The Couture Shows in Paris
Karl Lagerfeld, Armani Privi, John Galliano and Christian Lacroix present their couture collections in Paris.
All the 'T' in China
Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld turn the Great Wall of China into the world's largest catwalk.
Lagerfeld on Film
Designer Karl Lagerfeld discusses his photographic work in an interview with Fly, a compilation of music videos, interviews and fashion films.
More Paris Collections
Karl Lagerfeld, Dries Von Noten, Valentino, Sophia Kokosalaki.
More Multimedia »
