Who is Karl Lagerfeld, the designer to whom the MET Gala decided to honor

In September 2022, the Costume Institute from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (MET) announced that he would dedicate his next exhibition to the German designer karl lagerfeldwho died in 2019 after having dedicated more than 60 years of his life in fashion.

To present the event, in full Paris Fashion Weekthe MET chose the designer’s Paris office, an open-plan space filled with books in which the couturier was often photographed at work.

There they were Anna Wintourhead of the US edition of the magazine Vogue, andrew boltoncurator of the sample, the singer Pharrell Williamsa personal friend of Lagerfeld’s, and Virginie Viardhis right-hand man for forty years at Chanel and current designer of the brand, as well as the main executives of Chanel and Fendi.

All of them wanted to participate in the dissemination of the exhibition “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”, which will open to the public on May 5.

Karl Lagerfeld (1933-2019): the German designer became the subject of the MET Gala 2023 for his enormous legacy in fashion

The theme of the MET Gala 2023 exhibition: Karl Lagerfeld, A Line of Beauty

The theme of this exhibition at the MET will go through the work of karl lagerfeld (1933-2019), who was creative director of Chanel. The exhibition will focus on the concepts of the German designer: from his designs in the 50’s to his latest collection, presented in 2019.

Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty is the name of the exhibition that will include more than 150 exhibited pieces, sketches and documents that record the creative process of one of the creators who most impacted the history of fashion.

The sample includes garments that he created in firms such as Balmain, chloe, fendi, patou, Chanel and its namesake brand (karl lagerfeld).

Lagerlfeld, in Paris, with one of his iconic objects that marked his imprint: the fan

The creative process of Karl Lagerlfed

“Not enough has been said about Lagerfeld’s creative process. He was a character, funny and witty, and you always looked at his character. But his process, his relationship with the heads of the sewing workshop showed a secret language that was very interesting to me, ”Bolton told the EFE news agency.

The understanding of those lines that he drew in his famous and concise sketches, apparently simple sketches, and their conversion into real garments will be the axis of this exhibition that translates the internal universe of Lagerfeldwho used to say: “I learned to draw before I learned to speak”.

“More than a retrospective, it is an essay on a precise aspect of Lagerfeld. I think he would prefer it,” Bolton said.

Lagerfeld and Princess Gloria Von Thurn, in 1986.

Karl Lagerfeld, “a fashion intellectual”, according to Anna Wintour

Lagerfeld was “fashion’s greatest intellectual and one of the best people I’ve ever met in just about any field. His genius was focused on the fact that he always managed to surpass his previous achievements ”, he highlighted Wintourwho explained that the idea arose after the death of the creator in 2019, but it has had to be delayed on several occasions due to the pandemic.

For Wintour, Lagerfeld’s paradox is having become a world-renowned figure while at the same time maintaining strict privacy in his life, which always gave him a certain aura of mystery.

The singer Pharrell Williamswith whom Lagerfeld became a close friend in the last years of his life, and who became one of the faces most associated with Chanel, also had a few words before the press, to whom he spoke with his sunglasses despite being indoors, in honor of the designer. “I don’t know how I could see indoors with these glasses”the singer joked.

Karl Lagerfeld and Pharrell Williams, in 2017, at the Chanel show at the Grand Palais.

Pharrell Williams on Karl Lagerfeld

Williams highlighted the constant search for perfection and detail that characterized Lagerfeld, “the ideal of a collaborator, since he always valued the ideas of others.” “I feel very lucky to say that I was there, that I breathed in Karl’s magic and the exceptional talent he had.Williams said.

The exhibition, sponsored by Chanel and Fendi, will take place at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. At the 150 pieces of the German designer, the artist’s sketches will be addedrecognizable for their spontaneity and their almost impressionistic lines, as evidenced by the short film by the French fashion documentary filmmaker Loïc Prigentshown during the presentation of the theme of the Met Gala 2023.

The opening of the exhibition will coincide with the Met Gala, one of the events of the year in New York and in the world of fashion, which is attended by international celebrities wearing unprecedented dresses made by the most exclusive firms in the industry.

Karl Lagerfeld in his Spring/Summer 2017 show for Chanel

The legacy of Karl Lagerfeld

karl lagerfeld had a prominent place on the red carpets, where a handful of actresses showed off their fashion models. Chanel or of fenditestimonials to his unique ability to mix modernity and classicism.

Until the beginning of the 1990s, award galas did not interest the great couturiers, since most of the actresses chose American designers, whose names are almost unknown today.

But with the emergence of shows and channels dedicated to showbiz and celebrities, like E! In the United States, and the rise of the Internet, the visibility of these fashion figures skyrocketed.

At the helm of Chanel since 1983, and a Fendi collaborator since 1965, Lagerfeld accompanied this change, but always in his own way.

The style of the German creator characterized by the use of few colorsoften black and white, and for his taste for inlaid and embroidered pearls, crystals or sequins, with the delicacy that distinguishes haute couture from prêt-à-porter.

On the red carpet, the couturier tried to reinterpret the codes of Gabrielle Chanel to remain current.

Carolina de Monaco and Karl Lagerfeld at the 64th edition of the Rose Ball, March 2018.

The heirs of Karl Lagerfeld: the proclamations after his death

Years ago, Sebastien Jondeauassistant and bodyguard of the creator since 1997, declared in a television report: “Karl had no children. She didn’t have a family next to her and surely it was also to fill a certain void, a certain lack, a certain loneliness. He just wanted me to be his son one way or another.”. The model Baptiste GiabiconiFor his part, he assured that he was the one who headed the list of heirs.

The other people on the list, according to Le Parisien, would be: the caretaker of the Burmese cat Choupette, Francoise Caçotethe model brad croenig, your son hudson -godson of the designer-, Caroline Lebar, Kaiser Communications Directorand the British Jake Davisfriend of the designer.