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 house of Chanel.
From 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 their date of birth. The German born in Hamburg on September 10, 1933, claimed to be the son of a Swedish father, and was initially 8 years removed and then 5 years younger 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 was the co-founder of a company that introduced powdered milk to Germany, thanks to which they had privileges and his family was protected from starvation during the Second World War. His mother, who was the daughter of a local Catholic Center Party politician, also had a wealthy position.
Karl had a half-sister on his mother's side and another on his father's side, from their 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?
her Already at school she drew sketches inspired by French artists while the teachers taught, and after finishing her secondary school specializing in history and drawing, she went to Paris at only 20 years old. Two years later, he had won a position as a designer for the Pierre Balmain house, as a prize for having won a coat contest organized by the "international secretary of wool." Three years later he was already artistic director of Jean Patou. Six years later for Titian, while studying art history. And then there were the fashion houses I work for, 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 designer of the 20th century and who died in 1983.
He delighted us with the sample of these exclusive pieces that held his black satin tie, symbol of his uniform, a complex and distinctive look that distinguished him for 15 years, characterized by a high-necked shirt with starched cuffs, a wide knotted tie wide, jacket or vest suit and mittens (gloves with cut fingers), in a range of colors from black to white, and may lead to navy blue. Including the white hair gathered in a ponytail, the sunglasses and his white cat, everything was studied and thought through, to pass his demanding filter of style.
4. What motivated his 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 wear them, 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 it.
Although the evil leagues say that he sipped the taste of expensive foods such as steaks and caviar, but without actually eating them, perhaps they said it because they could not believe that one can have that resounding tenacity to execute in such a short time, the decision of 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 did the designer Pier Poiret in the early 1900s, who built a world of events and artistic personalities and aristocratic women who reinforced their image of genius and brand after all.
5. His cat was his main heir
German law allows pets to be included in the will and the desire of her owner made Chupette 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 in such a way that he gave her to her for Christmas. She was Karl's beloved pet from December 2011 until her 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 her.000 followers on Instagram.
Her inheritance allows her to live in the body of a feline queen, she has two veterinary maids who take care of her and feed her chicken pate and caviar, as well as using private jet when You must participate in one of the promotional campaigns.
Chupette continues to be an advertising claim to sell objects of its owner's brand.
6. Why was he always wearing black sunglasses?
It's not entirely for fashion that Karl Lagerfeld always completed his look with black sunglasses. The first reason is that he wanted to hide his expressions when he didn't want to share them, and the second is that after suffering a jealous attack in a bar, it was the glasses they were wearing that saved his eyes, understanding that they were the most valuable tools he owned and needed, that's when he realized he had to protect them, and from then on he always wore a pair of sunglasses.
He had several models, but the style of wide glasses, with black frames and blunt temples, was the one he chose most often, as they could perfectly be, our Hyde Black, with an elegant and sober design, which defines and elongates 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 worked 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 stylish, non-clothing photographs of the 50 most beautiful people in the world, featuring supermodels, actors, dancers and industrial designers, with their physical exposed, 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 the Parisian style with a casual rock-chic fashion.
In 2017 she starts 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.
Pier Paolo Righi has been the firm's CEO and president for 10 years. 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 stay on course, embracing the present and inventing the future, as the creator of the brand himself proclaimed. .
9. The collections that surprised
In 2004 he designed some models for Madona'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 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 exhausted, in the time of two days that they lasted for sale.
10. THE CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENTS THAT COMMITTED HIM
Karl Lagerfeld had several outbursts throughout his career, although due to his genius, these slips were apparently forgiven.
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 replied 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 the creative director of his flagship brand, he was the creative director of the houses Chanel and Fendi. His visionary talents extended beyond fashion to also offer his talents in illustration, photography, styling, and publishing the photography books he produced.
