Karl Lagerfeld by historian Florence Muller. “Fashion lacks a character like her”

During his lifetime he did not want to hear about solemn tributes. Honor him in a museum? No way. Burying him would be too quick, and Karl Lagerfeld, not feeling immortal, refused the idea. Four years after her death (February 19, 2019), the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is celebrating her with an exclusive exhibition, Karl Lagerfeld. Beauty line (1). Backed by brands like Fendi, Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld, it revisits the company’s extraordinary career. Kaiser fashion. On the 1st, the inaugural evening, the famous Met Gala, will take place^eh may Hosted by Anna Wintour, the most talked about fashion event of the year promises to be gorgeous. The theme of the dress code.In honor of Carl“.

In the video, Fendi pays tribute to Karl Lagerfeld

For the evening’s official co-chairs Dua Lipan, Penelope Cruz, Mikaela Coel, Roger Federer and select guests, it’s an opportunity to relive all that King Carl has embodied in fashion history. For over sixty years, the German-born designer has worked at the greatest houses: Patou, Chloé, Fendi, his Karl Lagerfeld brand and of course Chanel, which he rejuvenated, reinvented, modernized and pushed into a new era. Blooming As soon as it arrived in 1983. Therefore, we can expect a veritable festival of extravagant, luxurious, fun, graphic, artistic dresses on the red carpet. And maybe a bunch of KL black and white too. Because his most memorable creation remains himself. Tousled hair, ponytail, chrome rings, bejeweled tie, dark glasses… the man was a rock-star figure with phenomenal energy, imagination and culture. What is left of this man? larger than life 2023 Florence Müller, fashion historian and curator of numerous exhibitions (2), sheds light on the thousand and one faces of the all-too-familiar holy monster and what it has bequeathed to us.

The Andy Warhol of Fashion

“We’ve often compared him to a pop art icon who can make you nervous or smile. He is definitely A kingof pop culture, and like Warhol, his profession was only one facet of his activity. Karl Lagerfeld had many fields of action (photographer, editor, director, collector…) and a 360-degree vision. He turned to himself to create his character, an icon we recognized as soon as he appeared anywhere. Warhol had his platinum wig, Lagerfeld his powdered hair and ponytail. He, like the American artist, had his palace, a factory composed of young talents among the best in their field. And then, like Warhol, we ran after him to interview him because he had this gift of being able to sum up an era in two pitiful sentences, utterly irresistible.

A great designer?

“He was! We mustn’t forget that he studied at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, but he didn’t like the term. Why? Because unlike Saint Laurent, his friend from the first period, who was very quickly created his own couture house, the holy grail in the 1960s, Lagerfeld would immediately gravitate to a completely different direction: the novelty of ready-to-wear, which was in the process of being invented. He became the designer of Chloé and other brands. And history would finally prove him right. Undoubtedly, the prepared and artistic leaders won.”

The first DA in the history of fashion

“Working in other houses, he considered himself a mercenary, but above all he was the first artistic director in the history of fashion. Much more than a stylist, as they were called at the time, he became a true icon, a fashion artist, as gorgeous as a rock star. He captured the spirit of the times like no one else, always in search of new things, wanting to know everything about the times, to know everything about the latest trends in art, music, cinema… It was he who paved the way. To the almighty DAs: Tom Ford, John Galliano, Nicolas Ghesquière, Hedi Slimane, Demna Gvasalia, Maria Grazia Chiuri, the great values ​​of today.

A stylish legacy

“He invented something essential in today’s world: brand rejuvenation, or how to dust off a prestigious fashion house. His stroke of genius? Take inventory of Chanel house codes (double C, camellia, tweed, box jacket, quilted bag, etc.) and rework them to appeal to new generations. So he was the first to suggest a Chanel suit with a miniskirt, which Coco Chanel hated, the one who declared that the knees were the ugliest part of a woman’s body. He also suggested wearing it with jeans or branded t-shirts. Back in the 1980s, he introduced large gold and black leather chains that attracted rappers. Chanel has thus become an extremely desirable brand among all teenagers. Ditto at Fendi, where he breathed true fashion spirit into the label, rejuvenating bourgeois fur to push it into a much more playful, colorful, light, on-trend look.

A sense of modernity

“It is no coincidence that he was in love with Enlightenment and inexhaustible XVIII.^e century, which he knew by heart. Because it is an age of absolute modernity that gave birth to the French Revolution, democracy and a number of concepts that are still valid today. Let’s not forget that Marie-Antoinette also put aside corsets and basket dresses to dress as a shepherdess at the Petit Trianon. The world of fashion in Versailles was changing at an incredible speed, almost every week. A bit like Lagerfeld, who never wanted to rest on his laurels and reinvented himself every day.

A lonely king

“How is that irreplaceable?” Clearly, a figure like him is lacking in fashion. There is no current figure with such luxury, such culture, such spirit. Lagerfeld gave his noble letters to fashion, he made us, the people of this profession, proud to belong to an environment that can be considered vain. He was living proof of a very simple equation. to create fashion that speaks to the whole world, one must be brilliant, intelligent, erudite. He will go down in history as a visionary of luxury and elegance, as well as a thinker and philosopher. »

(1) “Karl Lagerfeld. A Line of Beauty,” from May 5 to July 16 at the Met Fifth Avenue in New York. (2) “Christian Dior. Dreams Designer,” until May 28 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, and “Carla Fernández, casa de moda. Un Manifiesto de moda mexicana,” through June 25 at the Franz Maier Museum in Mexico City.