Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld known as the “emperor of modern fashion,” is famous for his tireless work in the fashion industry. For the last twenty-five years, he has been the creative director of Chanel House and one of fashion’s favorite enigmas. Together with dressing Hollywood stars, he produces suits for theater and cinema, and was engaged into professional photography. He is recognized as a Renaissance figure being an enlightened mind in the Age of Enlightenment. He contributes to the creative direction in Chanel, Lagerfeld, and Fendi Homes, runs the 7L bookshop on the Rue de Lille in Paris, France, manages the Editions 7L publishing house, and works as a fashion photographer. While some people consider his black sunglasses to be his unique signature to conceal the signs of fatigue and venerable age of this unusual gentleman, others regard him as a genius and one of the most talented designers of modern times. In many aspects, Lagerfeld is similar to Coco Chanel; fanaticism to art and fashion are common for these eminent figures. Examining Lagerfeld’s personal history, collaborations with various fashion houses, and interdisciplinary creative projects, this paper argues that the designer has tirelessly accomplished his goal of crafting a holistic, beautifully designed environment demonstrating his personal desire to emphasize the beauty of surrounding.
Lagerfeld is constantly hunted by the press to reveal the secrets of his genius, creativity, and personal life. Thanks to the upbringing of a mother, who believed in his brilliant future, he has had good manners from an early age and exquisite taste. All these aspects gave him the opportunity to determine his future profession – design art. Lagerfeld became interested in a wide range of art and culture, from antique furniture to music. He studied at fashion school in Paris and showed his talent for the design of clothes while living in Hamburg. He submitted a series of unique sketches and fabric samples to a design contest and met another winner Yves Saint Laurent. He worked as a junior assistant of French designer Pierre Balmain. But, inspired by a new friend, Lagerfeld developed his own clothing line in 196. With Lagerfeld at the designer helm the fashion house gained a huge success and reached its first peak in the 1970s (Storemark and Hoffmann 1). Later, he sold the label to Tommy Hilfiger, although he continues to control its development.
Lagerfeld uses his eponymous brand as a field for splashing out its irrepressible potential. Dressed in black-and-white suits, manly military-style jackets combined with flat motorcycle boots, tight-fitting jackets with shirtless and tight trousers, the designer performs as a model demonstrating his own fashion line. Long white hair gathered in a tail, black goggles, and fingerless gloves distinguish Lagerfeld from other eminent designers (Godart 196). Lagerfeld became a legendary person, whose aura is reflected in everything that he creates. His popularity extended more when he started collaboration with H&M on its first designer collection. The collection became the sensation in the shortest terms. Besides, Lagerfeld’s creative ideas become the plots for numerous advertising campaigns. One of his last creations was the summer advertising campaign of Coca-Cola Light with unique Lagerfeld’s bottle design.
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In addition to the work in fashion industry, the designer also studies the laws and tendencies of modern standards of beauty, and the rules of the industry. While working as an art director in the house of Jean Patou, Lagerfeld created two collections a year. He succeeded in all his undertakings, including the creation of collections of clothes, shoes, hats, suits, jewelry, perfumes, furs, fabrics, and accessories. Lagerfeld’s style is famous for its lightness and liveliness. The master’s fantasy and ideas enable him to make bold decisions and produce extraordinarily feminine outfits. He is not afraid to experiment with the finest fabrics, create weightless multi-layer dresses, jackets, and translucent blouses. Lace and silk are the master’s favorite fabrics. He puts a variety of fantastic prints on them. Lagerfeld has started working with four fashion houses such as Chloe, Fendi, Krizia, and Charles Laurdan creating distinguishable collections. Famous designers from different parts of the world claim that they adore Lagerfeld’s ideas and endless creativity. Some of them have been cooperating with Karl for many years, and easily represent the ideas of the master in their collections. Lagerfeld also helped to raise Fendi House to a new level; he launched lines of dresses, suitcases, bags, and other accessories. Lagerfeld’s ideas for fur items for Fendi collection is a fearlessly provocation in the fight with the environmentalists. However, his contribution updated the collection with bright ideas and helped to keep Fendi House among the leaders of industry.
After leaving Paris, Lagerfeld studied art history in Italy. There he became disillusioned with the haute couture world. Monotony of fashion forced him to move forward experimenting with female and male collections. Therefore, the master believed that Italy was a perfect place for realizing all his ideas. After the designer had produced his first clothing line for men, he immediately received invitation to become a professor at the Vienna School of Applied Art. The designer was among the inventors of the fashion line for skirt-shorts and mini-skirts.
Lagerfeld gained significant popularity after becoming the art director of Chanel. He is among a few designers, who managed to preserve the style of Chanel. He managed to deny self-assertion of own ideas in order to preserve and emphasize the uniqueness and originality of eminent Coco. The world of fashion was delighted when Lagerfeld recreated the spirit of Chanel in the Chanel House. He rejuvenated the Coco style and made it more modern. According to Corona and Godart, “Karl Lagerfeld serves as an example of a designer who has built territory by controlling existing styles, notably the historical style of the famous Chanel fashion house, where he has been working as a leading designer since 1983” (283). The talented fashion designer managed to make the outdated Chanel style more dynamic and modern. Chanel’s legacy has reappeared and remains relevant nowadays.
Since that time, regardless of the circumstances and work with various brands, Lagerfeld has started working in the cinema and theater. Besides, he works on the design of elite porcelain for the German films, the design of jewelry, cosmetics and perfumes, and the sportswear line for the U.S. companies (Godart, Frederic C., et al. 198). Art and fashion enthusiasts may wonder how Karl can manage everything. He is not afraid to work and he cannot imagine his life without his beloved fashion. His fantastic work and abilities helped him gain the most prestigious Golden Thimble Award in the nomination “Best Collection of the Year.” Lagerfeld’s talent became vividly evident as he did not significantly change the way the creators of fashion houses work; he only invested his zest in new collections. The style has remained the same. Quantitative methods professor and fashion specialist, Nebahat Tokatli writes about Lagerfeld as a fashion designer and worldwide celebrity, known and recognized from Tokyo to Chicago (35). Tokatli tells about Lagerfeld’s suits and evening dresses as objects of worldwide fame and most popular labels in the fashion industry. Designer is deservedly regarded as an icon of the fashion industry nowadays.
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In addition to his design activity, Lagerfeld became a famous and skillful photographer. Visionaire 23: The Emperor’s New Clothes, a series of nude photos of celebrities and models, is among his most favorite art works. He gained numerous awards and accolades. His latest exhibitions were presented at Paris’s Pinacothèque de Paris gallery and at Florence’s Pitti Palace. His works of photography placed in the interior of the Palace shared the space with the masterpieces created by the Raphael, Titian, and Caravaggio. Besides, in 2013, Lagerfeld directed the short film Once Upon a Time… in the Cité du Cinéma, Saint-Denis, by Luc Besson. The movie is the combination of the cinematography and the history of fashion. On the other hand, a feature-length documentary film Lagerfeld Confidential (2007) about Karl Lagerfeld was created by Vogue.
Despite his advanced age, Lagerfeld continues working and develops the fashion industry. He creates unique collections as if he narrates the personal life story of his model. His art and fashion stories reflect the dynamic changes of modern world with changeable standards of beauty, fashionable moods and fashion as a part of daily life. Lagerfeld is fascinated by diversity and he likes to think and approach his clients in a different manner. While showing his collection, designer always demonstrates several wedding dresses. Many eminent actresses, including Catherine Deneuve and Grace Jones, adore his art. The genius of Lagerfeld lies in his works and the ability to spend time effectively and with pleasure. His performance and productivity is fantastic. He starts working on a new collection immediately after the performance of the previous one.
In conclusion, Lagerfeld is the most significant couturier in the fashion history of the twentieth century. He is a recognized fashion genius, master of many fashion houses that thrive and prosper under his creative leadership. He never stops and moves towards new accomplishments. He always shows his talent, because he knows how to transform ordinary things into masterpieces and art works. He is also engaged in photography, cinema and jewelry production. As a creative director of Chanel House and in collaboration with other fashionable homes, he produces outstanding suits and dresses for American and European celebrities. For each of such famous brands as Krizia, Chloe, and Fendi, Lagerfeld created unique collections, preserving traditions and introducing new elements. The designer has experimented a lot with materials and decor, creating multi-layered outfits from the finest fabrics. His brands continue to hold the leading position in the European fur production. The best representatives of the fashion market continue their collaboration with the talented designer. Contemporaries deservedly regard Lagerfeld as the emperor of fashion and indefatigable designer.
