Karl Lagerfeld honored at the Met Gala

This year’s Met Gala red carpet will be a show of its own. The 2023 dress code is themed In honor of Charlesreferring to Karl Lagerfeld, one of the most respected fashion creative directors in history. The annual event that raises funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met), in New York, brings together world celebrities, who must wear pieces inspired by the collections of the German designer.

The Met Gala always creates its atmosphere based on the exhibition currently running in the Costume Institute wing. the exhibition Karl Lagerfeld: A line of Beauty summarizes the designer’s career in 150 looks, which was a challenge for the curator, Andrew Bolton, and for Wendy Wu, who has collaborated with Lagerfeld for years.

But who exactly was Karl Lagerfeld? In addition to his iconic uniform, with starched collars and white ponytail, there is a lot of fashion history behind the trajectory of the German who revolutionized brands such as Chanel, Fendi, Balmain, Patou and Chloé.

Kaiser of fashion accidentally became a fashion icon

Design has always been present in the life of Karl Lagerfeld, who yearned to express his creativity with his talent in illustration. Born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1933, he had the opportunity to study at the Lycée Montaigne in Paris when his family moved to France.

But her entry into the fashion world happened by chance: in 1954, at the age of 21, she competed and won the prize for best coat at the International Woolmark Prize. Soon, he caught the attention of Pierre Balmain, who hired him as an assistant. It was at this time that the Balmain dress gained the female audience.

Over the next 65 years of his career, he made an impression by moving through the various areas of design and drawing from sources in art and pop culture for his creations. “I draw how I breathe. You don’t ask to breathe, it just happens”, Lagerfeld once said. earned the nickname Kaiser of fashion.

From Pierre Balmain to the reign of the Chanel luxury house

In the early 1960s, Karl Lagerfeld was active in Jean Patou. In the second half of that decade, she joined the Chloewhich went on to become one of the most influential brands of the 1970s.

As the designer’s name gained prominence across Europe and the rest of the world, it was incorporated into the maison chanel, where he was at the head of the creative direction for 36 years. Coco Chanel had died in 1971, and Karl was responsible for prêt-à-porter and haute couture. His performance renewed the brand and brought customers from a new generation.

Among his decisive actions to revitalize the maison are the shorter and tighter skirts. On the catwalks, Karl Lagerfeld invested in daring and exaggerated scenarios, such as the large glacier mounted on the Grand Palais in the prêt-à-portê for autumn/winter 2010/2011.

A Fendi it was also the designer’s home for 55 years. Called to renew the skins line, he ended up creating the iconic inverted FF logo.

Fashion inspiration and maison Karl Lagerfeld

If you saw people on the streets with opaque sunglasses, ponytails, starched collars and fingerless gloves, there would be no doubt that Karl Lagerfeld was the inspiration for the look.

The designer’s influence was so marked in the industry that it led to the creation of his own luxury brand. Even with his luxury maison, he remained at Chanel and Fendi until his death, aged 85, in February 2019.

His last completed collection, for Chanel, was presented to the public on the catwalks in March of the same year, with the theme of sports in the snow.

Master of photography and interior design

master of picture frames, immortalized photographs, paintings and drawings of himself in iconic looks. This trademark began when Karl shot his first campaign, in 1987, and fell in love with cameras. He applied silkscreen techniques, Polaroid, resinotypes, daguerreotypes, digital impressions, platinotypes and Fresson impressions.

Years later, he opened his studio in Paris, where great personalities from the fashion and beauty industry posed for his lenses. Her work ended up in books, many published by the famous German publisher Steidl.

The stylist was also a voracious book lover. His collection had more than 300,000 publications covering art history, music, architecture and even geography. By the way, architecture also became a passion for Karl, who became involved in projects in the area and also in interior design. Many of his works can be seen in cities such as Paris, Berlin, Miami and Singapore.

Karl and Choupette: cat inherited BRL 400 million fortune

Choupette went to great passion of the German designer at the end of his life. The feline won his heart when Karl agreed to help model Baptiste Giabiconi, who asked his friend to take care of the cat for a week.

The Kaiser didn’t like the idea very much, but he received the animal at home. It only took a week for what the stylist described as love at first sight. On the Monday when she was to be returned to her owner, Karl insisted that she stay. Not even the risk that Choupette would sharpen her nails on her luxury Zaha Hadid sofa scared the designer.

Choupette the cat charmed the German with her calm, funny and graceful personality. “She is beautiful to look at and has good posture”, she once said, proving that even her passion for the animal involved her aesthetic look at life.

Of the sacred race of Burma, Choupette was named in Karl’s will, who left much of his fortune of more than BRL 400 million for the kitten. She gained a profile on Twitter and appeared on the covers of magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar and Madame Figaro.

Any doubts that the Met Gala will be a fashionista show?

Cover photo: Karl Lagerfeld immortalized the ponytail, starched collar and fingerless gloves. Playback: Instagram