Karl Lagerfeld (Q2053)
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International fashion house
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Karl Lagerfeld |
International fashion house |
Statements
2006
creative director
1983
assistant
1966
designer
1995
designer
After Fendi and Chanel, it was clearer than ever this season what Karl Lagerfeld's own collection actually stands for. As he once memorably observed, anything bearing his name is pretty close to how he imagines himself dressing if he were a woman. Unsurprisingly, that meant his Spring offering for Karl Lagerfeld Paris veered between a sveltely structured futurism and a governess-y strictness. A halfway house between dreamland Gattaca and birthplace Hamburg, in other words. The palette said it all: black, white, and a silvery metallic, which flowed over Poppy Delevingne's body like a mercury second skin. The governess? A white blouse with a double bib tucked into a high-waisted black leather skirt suggested the kind of woman who'd keep naughty little Karl in check.That bib with its asymmetry was a recurrent motif throughout the collection, on everything from dresses to leather jackets. Also recurring was a trompe l'oeil element: the black jumper dress over the white top, all one piece, or the jewel-buttoned tee under a black gown, also a single garment. And all of it was cut from ultra-light technical fabrics: tech cotton, tech silk, stretch linen, rubber-effect leather for the accessories. The overall impression was a streamlined, monochrome antithesis of the profligate creativity of Lagerfeld's other work as a fashion gun for hire. It will be made even clearer in February, when he opens his own shop in Paris.
7 October 2012
"Modern is fortoday," Karl Lagerfeld said before his show, emphasizing his in-the-moment view of fashion, but the collection he showed under his own name impressively encompassed past, present, and future. Though the designer also featured a swingy A-line shape (in winter white, say, with silver piping and zip), the silhouette that mattered was streamlined to the nth. It was composed of a rigorously tailored jacket, its front folded back to create a kind of angular peplum, worn over a second-skin skirt-and-pants combination in a new kind of patent leather that had a flawless vinyl finish (in brown, it looked unsettlingly like chocolate). The patent was also used to line lapels or those folded jacket fronts. But equally, many of Lagerfeld's details harked back to history, like the corset detailing on one jacket or the buttons that ran up to the elbow on the sleeve of another. One navy jacket with a little stand-up collar was piped in red like a vintage military uniform. The puff of black netting on a one-shouldered silk dress added a fin de siècle touch, of old Vienna perhaps. The beaded or pleated chiffons that made up the finale had that same feel, even when worn over patent pants. The bands that held hair high off the forehead added inches of height to models who were already towering. Backstage, they set Lagerfeld to thinking about the Na'vi andAvatarand maybe even a collection of KL in 3-D eyewear.
6 March 2010
The invite featured Mondino's classic shot of skinny Karl as guitar hero. The backdrop was stacks of amps, à la rock band of your choice. So far, so in tune with the edgy scrawniness of this label's wares to date. But then, typical of Lagerfeld, the clothes turned around and defeated expectations. The foundation stone of the collection was shorts. "Not Bermudas or hot pants," the designer was quick to point out backstage, but a contemporary variation that emphasized rounded hips. They looked almost like tap shorts, especially when they showed in white satin.Lagerfeld pushed his idea with all-in-one playsuits—sometimes hanging off dungaree straps, sometimes with no straps at all—which dropped into deep-pleated shorts (it was particularly striking in red leather). This bizarre notion was so insistent throughout the presentation that it took on a persuasive life of its own. And, in its peculiar way, it fit with jackets whose hems were folded up to shoulders that buttoned down. Imagine WAACs hoofing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" on Mars and you get the picture. The clincher was a finale of outfits that were traced with an overlapping silver filigree. It was metal, yes, but it wasn't heavy. In other words, a practically lighthearted approach for a line that has, in the past, made an art of lugubriousness.
3 October 2009
The ever-onward Karl Lagerfeld is not inclined to the backward glance. So in a season when everyone else is doing their version of the 1980's, a decade he helped define, it made perfect sense that he was focused on the 2080's—or, OK, at least the future. The metal-machine music of Metronomy introduced a collection whose thrust was technology and architecture. The models wore fur helmets with inset iPods (cushioning against the crash?), and Lagerfeld referred to the built-out shoulder that defined the silhouette as "the bridge."As ever, this signature line was defined by a handful of branded elements: a leanness accentuated by the skinniest pants in Paris; a masculine, even military, hardness; a hint of the Vienna Secession in draped, black-velvet-banded eveningwear. This time, however, those "bridge" shoulders added a warrior-woman edge. And the long, languid line that formerly characterized the Lagerfeld label was replaced by a more structured look in short-sleeved jackets and skirts in silvered tweeds and mélange fabrics. But even Karl couldn't completely avoid an echo of everyone else's eighties. A square-shouldered, severely tailored black suit was right out of the closet of Rachael the Replicant fromBlade Runner, 1982's definitive style guide. Interestingly, it was one of the show's more persuasive looks.
7 March 2009
Karl Lagerfeld once oh-so-memorably said that his signature line reflected how he would dress if he were a woman. Which (aside from the obviously borrowed-from-his-own-wardrobe touches like the crisp, white high-collared shirt or the clerical color scheme) surely makes for the intriguing psychology that underpins this label.For Spring, the designer talked about "blurring"—that is, rendering things not quite as they seemed. There were large, asymmetrical, girdling peplumlike patent-leather belts that shifted the silhouette, and veils of black chiffon trailing over indistinct floral prints. Erik Halley contributed metal body jewelry: Originally intended to mimic tattoos, it ended up looking more like a baroque lace, in contrast with the modernism of the clothes.Modernism? Make that futurism, which was signaled by the first model, who beamed down in aClose Encountersshaft of light. Lagerfeld's sci-fi was actually more the retro-Blade Runnervariety, as in an asymmetrically draped suit with forties tailoring or a pencil skirt that emerged from a peplum's pleated tiers.This last item, shown in a sheer ice pink, clued us in to a more shadowy personality trait of this collection: a fetishisticmaîtresseedge. If Chanel is Paris and Fendi is Milan, the Karl Lagerfeld line may be the place where he is most in touch with his inner Teuton—with all the severity that implies.
30 September 2008
The show began, as usual, with boy-for-girl tailoring: Double- and single-breasted pinstripe jackets were worn over pleated miniskirts and flat patent oxfords; starchy white collars, not unlike the designer's own, peeked out from the jackets' lapels, this time with big bows replacing skinny ties. Austerity is too strong a word, but the tricky cuts and heavy-handed styling sometimes associated with the collection were absent. In their place were smartly wearable pieces like a belted vest dress that hit mid-calf; a narrow, fitted sheath with raised leather ribbing; and a jacket with a rounded eighties-ish shoulder and a built-in corset.The Teutonic precision of Lagerfeld's tailoring was softened considerably come evening. Fur boleros embroidered with sequins, bugle beads, or larger square paillettes strode out on models with their arms folded haughtily across their chests. While it hardly qualified as vamping, it was a welcome change of pace to see the girls in something other than automaton mode. The best dress, a calf-grazing draped black number, came with crystals on the shoulders and a row of tiny buttons inching up one side of the back. Lagerfeld has a formula for his signature line, yes. But this season, his black, white, navy, and sparkle mix was more winning than most.
26 February 2008
The invite featured a prominent rainbow on one side, a motif that was echoed on the runway's neon-lit backdrop and the venue's benches. Did that mean we were in for a change chez Lagerfeld? Well, not exactly. The designer started, as usual, with sharp black and white tailoring, as exemplified by the graphic, fitted jackets and vests worn—with skinny pants and tulle-covered jeans, respectively—by Gemma and Snejana. Also in this category were fit-and-flare fifties dresses with geometric cutouts at the neckline, and a high-neck sleeveless blouse and a billowy frock that looked not unlike Lagerfeld's own monastic shirts.The show's other idea—body-con jersey dressing—is where the bright hues came in, and it introduced an element of sexiness that the designer doesn't often explore in this line. But count on Lagerfeld to add a layer of intrigue. Veilings of black mesh crisscrossed the body, echoing the more angular shapes of his tailoring. After dark, he laid on the sequins and crystals—in horizontal stripes across a thick-strapped little black dress, for example. The takeaway message? There wasn't one, necessarily. This is a collection, in essence, of pieces, and the best thing about it was the increased variety.
2 October 2007
Of the three labels Karl Lagerfeld heads up, the one that bears his own name is, if not necessarily the closest to his heart, then the closest to his own closet. There was something vaguely military and distinctly mannish about the black and blue and army-drab tailored pieces and the flat new-wave boots with which they were worn. Compared with the funnel-neck coats and the boxy jackets, with their strong rounded shoulders, an abbreviated shirtdress that flared over short shorts and a jumper with a tucked bubble hem looked refreshingly female.What kept the collection from going over to the dark side were the kittenish accessories: fishnet underpinnings, lace stockings, and neon driving gloves (fingerless, natch) with talonlike press-on nails. And while it was executed with martial austerity, Lagerfeld didn¿t completely resist the temptation to embellish. A pair of sexy sheaths were a graphic mix of matte and shine. And tulle dresses (ranging from a blouson to a long halter to a sleeveless shift worn over skinny pants) were embroidered with sequins in patches. Nothing masculine about that.
27 February 2007
What a difference a continent makes. Karl Lagerfeld traded in New York for Paris and goth for chic. His cleaned-up and pared-down signature collection was full of the kind of clothes that get fashion editors scribbling, not because they will make pretty pictures—although there's plenty of potential for lovely editorial pages in his paneled-chiffon evening numbers, accessorized here with lace stockings and fingerless gloves—but rather because they'll make such pretty additions to their closets.Rendered in colors he's long since made his own at Chanel (i.e., black, white, and navy), Lagerfeld's day dresses were short, with drop waists and sharp pleats, or fluid and draped in soft jersey. Patent belts accented a trench dress, a shorts suit, and a shirtdress with flaring A-line skirt. But it wasn't all girly. There were precise, slim shirts—all high, stiff collars and built-in ties—and shiny boy pants or skinny jeans, the not-so-inside joke being that they were borrowed from Lagerfeld's own closet.
3 October 2006
As a city that has had its own taste of the apocalypse, New York was a fitting choice for the launch of Karl Lagerfeld's new collection, the first fruit of his deal with Tommy Hilfiger. There was an urgent bleakness to the presentation, which suggested a world on the brink. Lagerfeld himself claimed inspiration from shadowy Nordic notions like Isak Dinesen's gothic tales or the paintings of Edvard Munch. The clothes were uniformly dark, the boys clad in leggings, long johns, leathers, or waxy denims that made a streamlined counterpoint to the long, flowing skirts of the girls.As the final show of New York fashion week, the collection appropriately distilled the season's key menswear trends: significant outerwear, military detailing, trenchcoats (here cropped into jackets), knitwear given textural interest (little gaping mouths were slashed into black wool). Viking motifs were stitched into sweaters, adding a warriors-in-the-wasteland edge to Lagerfeld's dystopian vision. An evening look showed up in a white-tie combination deconstructed as an asymmetrically shawl-collared shirt with attached vest pockets. Given that this label (called Karl Lagerfeld) is intended as a more "price-sensitive" collection, its dramatic point of view made it a welcome addition to the busload of college-boy-friendly second lines that other designers have offered throughout the week.
12 February 2006
"I like to reinvent myself, it's part of the job," said Karl Lagerfeld a few hours before his first-ever New York show for the Lagerfeld Collection and Karl Lagerfeld labels. And we like to watch. Despite the late hour on the last night of fashion week, a high-powered crowd of editors, retailers, stylists, and photographers turned up at a Chelsea ballet studio to see what the business' busiest impresario would do next.In his program notes, he promised "tailoring, sculpting, shape-making, and mixing proportions with different influences and moods." Toss in layering, and the description fits. You could argue that there was too much of too much to take it all in—one editor observed how refreshing it would've been to see the female models in the men's more-simply-cut-and-presented evening suits. But several items did stand out, a few for the wrong reasons (no one but a model can pull off that bunching of fabric at the bust and hips), and a few for the right—including a brown wool trench silk-screened with an abstract camouflage print.Besides cool slouchy leather boots and not-ready-for-mainstream fur cuffs, there were precious few extras. Here's to hoping that next season Lagerfeld invents some of his signature irresistible accessories for these new collections.
9 February 2006