10 things you didn't know about Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Otto Lagerfeld or also called “the Kaiser of fashion”, has been considered one of the most influential fashion designers, thanks to his contribution to the Chanel house.
At Hanukeii we want you to get to know one of the greats of fashion design a little better.
1. What did Karl Lagerfeld and Coco Chanel have in common?
The two misrepresented their origins and date of birth. The German, born in Hamburg on September 10, 1933, claimed to be the son of a Swedish father, and initially took off 8 years and then corrected it to 5 years less than his real age, so he always celebrated his birthday 5 years later.
His mother and father were German, he was a businessman, the son of a banker and he was the co-founder of a company that introduced powdered milk in Germany, thanks to this they had privileges and his family was protected from hunger during the Second World War. His mother, who was the daughter of a local politician from the Catholic Center Party, was also well off.
Karl had a half-sister on his mother's side and another on his father's side, from previous marriages.
It can also be said that both agree that they died without direct descendants. In addition to having achieved a recognized position in the fashion history books.
2. How were your beginnings in the world of fashion?
she Already in school she drew sketches inspired by French artists while the teachers taught classes, and after finishing her high school specializing in history and drawing, she went to Paris when she was only 20 years old. Two years later he had won a position as a designer for the Pierre Balmain house, as a reward for having won a coat competition organized by the “international wool secretary.” Three years later he was already artistic director of Jean Patou. Six years later for Titian, while studying art history. And then the fashion houses I work for followed: Chloé, Charles Jourdan, Krizia, Valentino and Chanel.
3. He was a lover and collector of brooches.
she had a collection of brooches from Suzanne Belperron , who was a French jewelry designer, the most influential and talented of the 20th century and who died in 1983.
He delighted us with the display of these exclusive pieces that held his satin black tie, symbol of his uniform, a complex and unique look that distinguished him for 15 years, characterized by a high-necked shirt with starched cuffs, a wide knotted tie wide, jacket or suit with a vest and mittens (cut-finger gloves), in a range of colors from black to white, which can lead to navy blue. Including the white hair tied in a ponytail, the sunglasses and his white cat, everything was studied and meditated, to pass his filter of demand for style.
4. What motivated your great physical transformation?
It was thanks to Hedi Slimane's designs for Dior that Karl Lagerfeld decided to lose exactly the weight he needed to be able to show them off. He lost 36 kilos in 13 months following a strict diet. He later wrote a book in which he detailed his diet designed by his doctor and which was later followed by so many fans. With great willpower, he achieved his goal so quickly because he was so strict with his diet that what he shouldn't eat, he simply didn't even look at.
Although rumors say that he enjoyed the taste of expensive foods like steaks and caviar, but without actually eating them, perhaps they said it because they couldn't believe that one can have such resounding determination to execute, in such a short time, the decision to lose almost 40 kilos, which he never regained, or it could be that he spread it himself, to maintain his aura of extravagant genius, as the designer Pier Poiret did in the early 1900s, who built a whole world of events and artistic personalities and aristocratic that reinforced its image of genius and brand in the end.
5. His cat was his main heir
German law allows pets to be included in the will and the wish of her owner turned Chupette into the richest cat in the world, declaring her one of her eight heirs.
The Burmese cat, which was a gift from the model Baptista Giabiconi, who left her to take care of her when he went on a trip, fell in love with her so much that he gave her her for Christmas. He was Karl's beloved pet from December 2011 until his death on January 19, 2019.
he was so obsessed with her that he opened social networks for her and hired the best specialists to manage them, currently reaching more than 97 of hers.000 followers on Instagram.
Her heritage allows her to live like a feline queen, she has two veterinary maids who take care of her and feed her chicken pâté and caviar, in addition to using a private jet when You must participate in one of the promotional campaigns.
Chupette continues to be an advertising claim to sell objects from its owner's brand.
6. Why did he always wear black sunglasses?
It is not entirely because of fashion that Karl Lagerfeld always completed his look with black sunglasses. The first reason is that he wanted to hide his expressions when he did not want to share them, and the second is that after suffering an attack of jealousy in a bar, it was the glasses they were wearing that saved his eyes, understanding that they were the most valuable tools that he owned and needed, there he realized that he had to protect them, and from then on he always wore a pair of sunglasses.
I had several models, but the style of wide glasses, with black lenses and thick temples, was the one I most often chose, as could perfectly well be our Hyde Black, with an elegant and sober design, which defines and lengthens the face thanks to its more accentuated upper ends and its absolute black color that is in the range of its color palette and gives it total distinction.
7. Did you know that his other passion was photography?
he carried out his work as an artistic photographer. Karl had great artistic ability with his camera to capture the essence of people. He published a book, Visionarie 23: The emperor's new clothes, of photographs full of style and without costumes, about the 50 most beautiful people in the world, showing supermodels, actors, dancers and industrial designers, with their bare physicality, just as they are.
On another occasion he did something similar for the famous 2011 Pirelli calendar, characterizing models and actresses as Greek and Roman gods. Black white continued to dominate his representative artistic life.
8.He designed his own line of clothing and accessories
For him, designing was like breathing, he said that he didn't look for it, it happened. And so from 1974 until his death he designed collections for his own clothing brand. It combined Parisian style with a casual rock-chic fashion.
In 2017 she started designing jewelry with Swarovski. Necklaces, earrings and rings with the same rock-chic aesthetic, inspired by her cat and another more sophisticated and elegant line.
Currently the brand has a clothing line for women, men, unisex, and children. With items ranging from clothing to accessories such as footwear, bags, jewelry, glasses, even perfumes and candles. It has more than 200 mono-brand stores around the world where it distributes its products.
For 10 years Pier Paolo Righi has been the CEO and president of the firm. In the last 5 years it has managed to increase sales by 30% by focusing on innovation and sustainability. Currently the designer Hum Kim and the stylist Carine Roitfeld are the ones who keep the spirit of the designer alive, striving to maintain its course, making it embrace the present and invent the future, just as the creator of the brand himself proclaimed. .
9. The collections that surprised
In 2004 he designed some models for Madonna's Re-invention world tour, in which he visited 20 cities in 7 countries, a total of 56 concerts. She also did it the following year for Killie Minoge's Show Girl tour, one of the artist's most successful tours.
In the same year, on November 12, he collaborated with the fashion brand by creating a capsule collection, inspired by his own style, in black and white and with limited edition garments for the brand, and that all the models would be sold out, in the two days they were on sale.
10. THE CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENTS THAT COMPROMISED HIM
Karl Lagerfeld had several outbursts throughout his career, although due to his genius he was apparently forgiven for these slips.
It was known that he spoke ill of people who seemed fat or ugly to him. But after having refined his silhouette, his lack of modesty prompted him to make statements about his opinion regarding the singer Adele's physique, and he said that he thought she was too fat, to which the singer responded that she was satisfied with her body and that represented the majority of women. He said of Milan that it was a city that lacked glamour. And that the German Heidi Klum did not know who she was.
In short, it was impossible to separate the person from the myth.
Karl Lagerfeld was a fashion icon, known for his avant-garde and ambitious approach. His natural strength was added to the fact that he was an enigmatic person with an original perspective on fashion and pop culture.
In addition to being creative director of his flagship brand, he was the creative director of the houses Chanel and Fendi. His visionary talent extended beyond fashion to also offer his talent in illustration, photography, styling and the publication of the photography books he produced.
