KARL LAGERFELD
KARL
LAGERFELD
Fashion icon
Karl Lagerfeld was renowned worldwide for his aspirational, relevant and
cutting-edge approach to style. He was a force of nature, coupled with an
enigmatic persona and an original perspective on fashion and pop culture.
In addition
to being the creative director of his signature brand, Lagerfeld oversaw the
creative direction of the Chanel and Fendi fashion houses. His visionary talent
further expanded beyond fashion to include illustration, photography, styling
and publishing.
LIFETIME
ACHIEVEMENTS
1933: Karl Lagerfeld
was born in Hamburg, Germany.
1954: He won
first prize in a contest organised by the Secrétariat International de la Laine
(International Wool Association), for a sketch of a coat. The coat was produced
by Pierre Balmain who offered Karl Lagerfeld, then 17, a job as his assistant.
1957: He
became art director for fashion designer Jean Patou.
1962: He
became one of the first freelancers in the modern fashion industry, working
between France, Italy, England and Germany.
1965: He
began working for Fendi; their collaboration has continued to the present day.
1964: He
began working with Chloe.
1975: He
became the first fashion designer to introduce a perfume, CHLOE, without having
his own label.
1983: He was
named art director of the house of Chanel.
1984: He
created his own fashion house, KARL LAGERFELD, while continuing his
collaborations with Chanel and Fendi.
1987: He
moved behind the lens to start shooting his own campaigns. He has since become
renowned for his work as a photographer, and many of his images have been
transformed into art books, published by Steidl.
1992: He
created 60 colourful illustrations for the classic fairy tale The Emperor’s New
Clothes by Hans Christian Anderson.
1999: He
opened a bookshop in Paris, called 7L. A year later, he also became a publisher
with the launch of the EDITIONS 7L publishing house, which specializes in books
about visual knowledge and photography.
2000: He
changed his look and redefined his image after losing 42 kilograms (93 lbs)
with a self-imposed diet. A book, The 3D Diet, was published about the
experience shortly thereafter; it sold tens of thousands of copies worldwide.
2004: He was
the first designer in the world to be asked by fashion giant H&M to
collaborate on a capsule collection of 30 pieces.
2008: His
name was added to Le Petit Larousse Illustré, France’s most iconic dictionary.
2010: He
received the Couture Council Fashion Visionary Award from the Fashion Institute
of Technology (FIT) in New York.
2012: He
became a monthly contributor of bespoke caricature sketches to F.A.Z, a
supplement of the Frankfurter Allgemein Zeitung newspaper in Germany.
2016: At the
request of choreographer and director Benjamin Millepied, he designed the
costumes for the Brahms-Schönberg Quartet production at the Opéra Bastille in
Paris.
2017: He
designed two spectacular suites in the iconic Hôtel de Crillon in Paris. He was
also named recipient of the “Outstanding Achievement Award” at the British Fashion
Awards and the John B. Fairchild Award by WWD.
2018: He
collaborated with international model, Kaia Gerber, to introduce the KARL
LAGERFELD X KAIA collection. He also designed a 6-star, 290-room hotel in
Macau.
2019: Karl
Lagerfeld passed away in Paris, France, on February 19.
