KARL LAGERFELD
The life portrait of a fashion industry legend
''Women need beauty to be loved by men,stupidity to love them'' once said Coco or as her real name was, Gabriel Chanel. Would have she changed her opinion on men, if she had known that one day her mythic empire would be handed down to a man? She, propably, would as Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of Coco Chanel's fashion house since 1983, has proved over the years that by dressing contemporary women with his creations,he shows off their beauty in a unique way, because he is able, as Mademoiselle Coco used to say about herself, to listen to their needs. Being a member of a wealthy family of manufacturers from Hamburg, the German Karl who had first worked as a stylist, was considered justifiably as the most appropriate person to convey the unrivaled style of Mademoiselle without distorting it, and maintaing always his very own designing skills.
Today the 74-year old Karl is not doubted anymore; he belongs to the sphere of the undeniable ones. Passing over his long-lasting fashion career in review, it can be said that life has treated him with plenty of generosity. His initial desire was to become a caricaturist, but in the end it was fashion design that won him. He was taught near Balmain, he worked for Patou,Valentino and Tiziani,while a milestone in his career was the time when he started to design for the fashion House of Chloé in Paris in 1964; that year signaled the beginning of his independent career in fashion. In 1972 Karl began his long-standing cooperation with Fendi, while eleven years later his name would sign the creations of the historical fashion House of Chanel. As a man of many talents, Karl has also introduced himself to the public as an expeptional photographer with a rich portpholio. In his biography he also counts, a multitude of collaborations with many fashion labels and famous artists, as well as those with a well-known German car industry, a brand of champagne and recently a chain of ready-to-wear clothes shops. Lately the multilingual Karl starred in a French reality tv program presenting the haute-couture fall/winter 2004-2005 of Chanel and he unfolded his versatile personality in a documentary named ''Lagerfeld Confidential'' which had been his shadow for three years. In 2006 he launched a fashion line labeled as ''K'' with jeans, moving with success from the field of haute-couture to the one of ready-to-wear.
Lagerfeld has built a worthwhile career in fashion having as a highlight the fact that he was never overshadowed by the popular brands with which his name was often involved. On the contrary, he managed to make them comply with his sometimes extravagant choices,and as a consequence he succeeded in establishing himself in the universe of haute-couture. Like most of the highly esteemed fashion designers, Karl was strongly criticized in his first steps especially for his eccentric collections and the unorthodox way he used to choose for presenting them,but due to his endless and surprisingly innovative talent, he survived. The fact that in 1983 he took over the reins of the House of Chanel -a huge heritage- provided him with prestige and international recognition. At the same time, however, Karl was charged with the heavy responsibilty to continue successfully the creation of the legendary couture collections of Chanel's house. Karl has tried to find a balance between the elegant but simultaneously plain and unaffected style of Mademoiselle and his own the more extreme one, supporting Chanel's philosophy of dressing women with practical, albeit always chic clothes in response to the opulent and uncomfortable outfits of her time. According to what Karl had pointed out in the past, his role in Chanel's house was to expand the use of the classic symbols of the house, such as the famous tweed jacket, the camelia, the special buttons, the knots and the all-time classic little black dress. Unavoidably in his effort to keep up the tradition of the house, Lagerfeld and his avant-garde ideas have been largely affected by the incomparable style of Chanel's house.
Karl Lagerfeld regards fashion as a game of proportions and unpredictable challenges. He likes drawing his inspiration from people, or the street culture and although, in public he never takes off his dark sunglasses,he ensures us that he always takes a look at the changes that our modern society undergoes with hectic rythmes. Karl knows how to transform the stimuli of everyday life into designing masterpieces and he does not hesitate to experiment with his creations, to destroy and create them from scratch. He fights conformity in general, as well as the so-called serious conversations in terms of fashion, while he becomes really angry with those who take advantage of it so as to gain some social status. As an individual, Karl is not romantic, on the contrary, he is overwhelmed by a sense of demystification of the past and he prefers to emphasize in the moment, since the future cannot be predicted. Regarding his job, he acknowledges the fact that his creations are too expensive and he tries to offset it by being very demanding with himself. He can spend thousands of money on clothes for himself because, as he believes, it is always good that money return to its source. He loves listening to music and communicating with young people. Refusing to conform with his generation, Karl gives the impression of a man who vacillates between his prohibitive, age-related decency and his passion for an intense lifestyle.
Before the designing process begins, Karl evokes his mechanism of senses and insticts, determined not to move on to ideological ''cutbacks'' or succumb to the tricks of marketing. Being always in alert, with a flexibility that allows him to change everything even at the last minute, Karl is of the opinion that it is better making a mistake rather than not being sure enough. For him the occupancy with fashion never appears to be dull, by contrast he believes that it has to be perpetual, otherwise the world of fashion will bog down. Besides, he is always willing to congratulate other designers on their collections as long as he considers the last ones to be remarkable. He is also interested in ready-to wear, but he believes that it needs technical knowledge to be compared with haute couture, whereas he feels that some young designers undrestimate it when they refer ironically to their attempts to create something equally great for those with less money. Concerning the virtue of beauty, Karl argues that it cannot be found where there is not a strange feature, that's why in his fashion shows he usually chooses models with unconventional measurements.
This is Karl Lagerfeld, a restless spirit, a controversial character, if someone can actually describe his personality on a piece of paper. What is sure, is that fashion needs Karl and Karl needs fashion, even though he is always one step ahead of it.
The life portrait of a fashion industry legend
''Women need beauty to be loved by men,stupidity to love them'' once said Coco or as her real name was, Gabriel Chanel. Would have she changed her opinion on men, if she had known that one day her mythic empire would be handed down to a man? She, propably, would as Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of Coco Chanel's fashion house since 1983, has proved over the years that by dressing contemporary women with his creations,he shows off their beauty in a unique way, because he is able, as Mademoiselle Coco used to say about herself, to listen to their needs. Being a member of a wealthy family of manufacturers from Hamburg, the German Karl who had first worked as a stylist, was considered justifiably as the most appropriate person to convey the unrivaled style of Mademoiselle without distorting it, and maintaing always his very own designing skills.
Today the 74-year old Karl is not doubted anymore; he belongs to the sphere of the undeniable ones. Passing over his long-lasting fashion career in review, it can be said that life has treated him with plenty of generosity. His initial desire was to become a caricaturist, but in the end it was fashion design that won him. He was taught near Balmain, he worked for Patou,Valentino and Tiziani,while a milestone in his career was the time when he started to design for the fashion House of Chloé in Paris in 1964; that year signaled the beginning of his independent career in fashion. In 1972 Karl began his long-standing cooperation with Fendi, while eleven years later his name would sign the creations of the historical fashion House of Chanel. As a man of many talents, Karl has also introduced himself to the public as an expeptional photographer with a rich portpholio. In his biography he also counts, a multitude of collaborations with many fashion labels and famous artists, as well as those with a well-known German car industry, a brand of champagne and recently a chain of ready-to-wear clothes shops. Lately the multilingual Karl starred in a French reality tv program presenting the haute-couture fall/winter 2004-2005 of Chanel and he unfolded his versatile personality in a documentary named ''Lagerfeld Confidential'' which had been his shadow for three years. In 2006 he launched a fashion line labeled as ''K'' with jeans, moving with success from the field of haute-couture to the one of ready-to-wear.
Lagerfeld has built a worthwhile career in fashion having as a highlight the fact that he was never overshadowed by the popular brands with which his name was often involved. On the contrary, he managed to make them comply with his sometimes extravagant choices,and as a consequence he succeeded in establishing himself in the universe of haute-couture. Like most of the highly esteemed fashion designers, Karl was strongly criticized in his first steps especially for his eccentric collections and the unorthodox way he used to choose for presenting them,but due to his endless and surprisingly innovative talent, he survived. The fact that in 1983 he took over the reins of the House of Chanel -a huge heritage- provided him with prestige and international recognition. At the same time, however, Karl was charged with the heavy responsibilty to continue successfully the creation of the legendary couture collections of Chanel's house. Karl has tried to find a balance between the elegant but simultaneously plain and unaffected style of Mademoiselle and his own the more extreme one, supporting Chanel's philosophy of dressing women with practical, albeit always chic clothes in response to the opulent and uncomfortable outfits of her time. According to what Karl had pointed out in the past, his role in Chanel's house was to expand the use of the classic symbols of the house, such as the famous tweed jacket, the camelia, the special buttons, the knots and the all-time classic little black dress. Unavoidably in his effort to keep up the tradition of the house, Lagerfeld and his avant-garde ideas have been largely affected by the incomparable style of Chanel's house.
Karl Lagerfeld regards fashion as a game of proportions and unpredictable challenges. He likes drawing his inspiration from people, or the street culture and although, in public he never takes off his dark sunglasses,he ensures us that he always takes a look at the changes that our modern society undergoes with hectic rythmes. Karl knows how to transform the stimuli of everyday life into designing masterpieces and he does not hesitate to experiment with his creations, to destroy and create them from scratch. He fights conformity in general, as well as the so-called serious conversations in terms of fashion, while he becomes really angry with those who take advantage of it so as to gain some social status. As an individual, Karl is not romantic, on the contrary, he is overwhelmed by a sense of demystification of the past and he prefers to emphasize in the moment, since the future cannot be predicted. Regarding his job, he acknowledges the fact that his creations are too expensive and he tries to offset it by being very demanding with himself. He can spend thousands of money on clothes for himself because, as he believes, it is always good that money return to its source. He loves listening to music and communicating with young people. Refusing to conform with his generation, Karl gives the impression of a man who vacillates between his prohibitive, age-related decency and his passion for an intense lifestyle.
Before the designing process begins, Karl evokes his mechanism of senses and insticts, determined not to move on to ideological ''cutbacks'' or succumb to the tricks of marketing. Being always in alert, with a flexibility that allows him to change everything even at the last minute, Karl is of the opinion that it is better making a mistake rather than not being sure enough. For him the occupancy with fashion never appears to be dull, by contrast he believes that it has to be perpetual, otherwise the world of fashion will bog down. Besides, he is always willing to congratulate other designers on their collections as long as he considers the last ones to be remarkable. He is also interested in ready-to wear, but he believes that it needs technical knowledge to be compared with haute couture, whereas he feels that some young designers undrestimate it when they refer ironically to their attempts to create something equally great for those with less money. Concerning the virtue of beauty, Karl argues that it cannot be found where there is not a strange feature, that's why in his fashion shows he usually chooses models with unconventional measurements.
This is Karl Lagerfeld, a restless spirit, a controversial character, if someone can actually describe his personality on a piece of paper. What is sure, is that fashion needs Karl and Karl needs fashion, even though he is always one step ahead of it.
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