Designer Profile: Karl Lagerfeld

I was recently assigned to write a designer profile on the incomparable Karl Lagerfeld; I  figured it would be a nice thing to share on the blog... Enjoy! --Sarah

via Vogue UK, 2011

Karl Lagerfeld is a world-renowned designer, photographer and filmmaker. Lagerfeld was born Karl Lagerfeldt in pre-war Germany in 1933. He dropped the “t” from his name as he thought that without it, his name would be more commercial. His exact date of birth is questionable as Lagerfeld insists on keeping it a secret, adding to a general aura of mystery he has been cultivating over the span of his long career. 

Lagerfeld at work at Chloe;

via Vogue UK, 2011

Lagerfeld began his career in fashion in 1955 working at the House of Balmain. He went on to work at Jean Patou (1958), and did free lance work from 1962-1964 at multiple houses including Krizia, Charles Jourdan and Valentino. In 1964, he began designing at Chloe and in 1967 Lagerfeld became the creative director at Fendi. In 1983, (at which time he ended his freelance contracts) Lagerfeld was appointed creative director at Chanel, and the following year he launched his own eponymous line, which Vogue deemed full of “intellectual sexiness.”[1]

During the 1980s and 1990s, Lagerfeld’s work was characterized by unconventional silhouettes and bold accessories. At Fendi, he experimented with texture and cut; a coat owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art dating to the 1980s made of orange velvet is adorned with sequin embellishment along several rows of scallop-cut fabric. The coat has no visible closure and looks more so like a cape; only once on the body does the garment translate to serve its intended purpose. A black, strapless cocktail dress from 1988 was constructed entirely from tulle, sewn in to rows that spiral around the body, sticking out in short, vertical lines, and ending in an asymmetrical hemline. 

From the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

At Chanel, Lagerfeld initially kept a silhouette comparable to his famous predecessor, but began mixing and matching details, such as button size and number of pockets, on the famous Chanel suit. By the 1990s, Lagerfeld had expanded on the idea of “mixing and matching” in fashion; it was not uncommon for him to pair a white shirt with a formal evening skirt to create a traditional silhouette charged with modern irreverence to the dictates of fashionable dress. The New York Times in 1993 described the Lagerfeld aesthetic as Chanel as a “new formality.”[2] He continued his rebranding of the House of Chanel by incorporating a double-C logo on to handbags, jeans, shoes, jewelry and t-shirts. The double-C logo has become one of the most widely recognized symbols of a luxury brand around the world.

In 2004 Lagerfeld designed a collaborative line for mid-point brand H&M and in 2011 for Macy’s. Each line was evocative of Lagerfeld himself and more closely related in aesthetic to his eponymous line as opposed to Chanel or Fendi. Lagerfeld’s name and image were used as branding points for the clothing and made mostly of affordable fabrics, such as cotton and synthetics. The important component to both lines was the image and the association with Lagerfeld’s name as opposed to fine workmanship or luxury fabrics. T-shirts fetishized Lagerfeld’s silhouette and first name, adding a sense of superficial irreverence to the collections.

Lagerfeld’s personal life consists of constant reinventions of himself and his physical surroundings. At first glance, he can seem a contradictory sort of man, but he describes himself in this way, “The last thing I’d do is define myself. Tomorrow I could be the opposite of what I am today” and “The essential thing in life is to reinvent oneself.”[3]  The New York Times profiled Lagerfeld in 2008, tracing the history of the 20 homes he had owned and decorated from 1950 to 2008. Each home contained furniture from different periods of time, both in decorative arts history and from Lagerfeld’s personal life. Using the past to adorn the present is something Lagerfeld excels at. His friend Helmut Newton described him as “Little Karl, the clairvoyant, who brings the future to us.”[4]

S/S 2014; via Daily Mail Online

 Lagerfeld admittedly loves books and history, but doesn’t want to appear intellectual. His aim of reading is to learn, not to discuss his acquired knowledge. For his fashion collections, specifically for Chanel, he aims to remain firmly in the present, to the extreme that he can seem dismissive of the past when discussing the present. In his book The World According to Karl, Lagerfeld explains, “Chanel was a woman of her times. She wasn’t a backward-looking-has-been. The opposite—she hated the past, including her own past, and her whole thing comes from that. That’s why the Chanel brand has to be the image of the moment.”[5]

Contrary to this, when he is discussing his love of reading, research and intellect, he tends to dismiss the present. It appears in his personal life he embraces traditional means of relaxation and communication; he does not watch TV or use electronic devices when at home. But in the context of his work, he is rarely seen without his iPhone and has created a Twitter account for his cat, Choupette.[6] In this way Lagerfeld is a contradiction of himself, and one explained by himself in this way, “The personality I project to the media is a puppet. It’s me pulling the strings. The most important thing is for the strings to be well tied.”[7]

Lagerfeld’s use of the past in his work has been most beneficial in promoting his present endeavors, specifically, building up the myths surrounding the House of Chanel. In 2009, Lagerfeld released a book of photographs, some his own and some historical, telling a fictitious story about Gabrielle Chanel and her Russian connections. The book ends with photographs of Lagerfeld’s designs for the House of Chanel inspired by this idea. Similarly, in 2014, Lagerfeld created a short film staring Kiera Knightly as Chanel, recreating similar ideas and themes as he had used in his 2009 book. In this way Lagerfeld uses his own history to remain fixed in the present.

As a constant reinvention, Lagerfeld has been able to remain present and relevant during the height of the postmodern era in fashion. His grasp of the present is dictated by his love for history, and his ability to separate the two when needed. In this way I believe it can be argued that Lagerfeld was a modernist, a postmodernist, and perhaps even a post-postmodernist. In the end, Lagerfeld himself understands that his own time will eventually be over and does not take himself too seriously: “I’m like perishable goods. What I say doesn’t keep.”[8]

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[1] "Karl Lagerfeld, Fashion Designer." Vogue UK. January 18, 2011. http://www.vogue.co.uk/person/karl-lagerfeld

[2] Morris, Bernadine. “Lagerfeld's Home Run for Chanel.” New York Times, Mar 19, 1993

[3] Lagerfeld, Karl, and Jean Napias. The World According to Karl: The Wit and Wisdom of Karl Lagerfeld. London: Flammarion, 2013. pp 160, 134

[4] Horyn, Cathy. “Profile in Style: KARL LAGERFELD, the mercurial designer, refashions again.” New York Times; Dec 7, 2008

[5] Lagerfeld pp 77

[6] O'Neill, Kristina. "My List: Karl Lagerfeld in 24 Hours." Harper's BAZAAR. March 16, 2012. Accessed October 20, 2014. http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/fashion-articles/24-hours-with-karl-lagerfeld-0412.

[7] Lagerfeld pp 160

[8] Lagerfeld pp 173