Karl Lagerfeld: Life in pictures
- by Radhika Seth
Vogue pays tribute to the late designer’s illustrious career and looks back on Karl Lagerfeld’s life in pictures
“A designer has to see himself like a building with TV antennas; you capture images of everything that’s going on, tape it, then forget it,” Karl Lagerfeld quipped to American Vogue in 1984. The prolific octogenarian, who helmed Chanel, Fendi and his namesake label over a career spanning seven decades, had an innate understanding of fashion’s changing landscape. With his relentless drive and disdain for sentimental nostalgia, no one better embodied the mood of the moment.
Born in Hamburg in 1933, Lagerfeld first learned to sketch at Paris’s Lycée Montaigne after his family relocated to France. When he won the coat award at the 1954 International Wool Secretariat competition, he was promptly hired as Pierre Balmain’s assistant. Stints at Jean Patou and Chloé followed, before he began collaborating with Fendi in 1965.
Lagerfeld joined Chanel as creative director in 1983, at the behest of chairman Alain Wertheimer. He went on to revitalise the codes of the hallowed French house and attracted a new generation of clients in the process. In the age of social media, his elaborate sets became legendary—from the Chanel supermarket and casino to the airport lounge and blue-skied beach—and Lagerfeld became an icon in his own right. His starched collars, opaque sunglasses, fingerless gloves and powder-white ponytail are as closely associated with Chanel today as the brand’s own bouclé tweed and interlocking C’s.
Vogue pays tribute to the designer’s illustrious career and looks back on his life in pictures.
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Karl Lagerfeld after winning the coats category in a design competition sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat, Paris, 14th December 1954.
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Karl Lagerfeld, at Jean Patou, for fittings in Paris, France, July 21, 1958
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Karl Lagerfeld with a model in 1961
Image: Rex Features
Karl Lagerfeld showing his fall 1969 collection for Chloe
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A portrait of Karl Lagerfeld
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See-through dress decorated with sparkling cameras from Karl Lagerfeld's Spring 1974 collection for Chloe
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Karl Lagerfeld, designer of Chloe In France On April 02, 1979
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Model wearing Karl Lagerfeld outfit for Chloe at fashion show in Paris
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Karl Lagerfeld at work at Chloe's Paris studio
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Model wearing classic white suit with all the traditional Chanel hallmarks
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Karl Lagerfeld fits one of his designs on top model Ines of the Fressange at Chloe's Paris studio
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In 1983 Karl Lagerfeld joined Chanel as its chief artistic director fashion designer
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Karl Lagerfeld himself making the record of his collection for Chanel
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German Creative Director for Fur and Women Ready-to-Wear Karl Lagerfeld, surrounded by the five Fendi sisters, heads of the Fendi Italian luxury fashion house.
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German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld backstage with models prior to his Ready to Wear Autumn Winter 1989 collection
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Karl Lagerfeld posing with Vogue publisher Anna Wintour at the 12th annual Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards ceremony, at Lincoln Center
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Karl Lagerfeld at spring/summer 94 pret-a-porter collection
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A model displays a creation by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel as part of his Spring Summer high fashion collection on January 23, 1996 in Paris.
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British model Kate Moss (4th L), French Laetitia Casta (2nd L) and other models show off roughly suits, dresses and outfits on October 17, 1997 during the presentation in Paris of Chanel's Spring-Summer 98 ready-to-wear collection designed by Karl Lagerfeld
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Karl Lagerfeld, Hedi Slimane at Dior masculine fashion show fall winter 2007 - 2008
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Karl Lagerfeld walks on the runway during the Chanel 2012 Spring/Summer Haute Couture Collection Show at Shinjuku Gyoen Park on March 22, 2012 in Tokyo, Japan
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Karl Lagerfeld and actress Kristen Stewart poses backstage after the Chanel show as part of Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2014-2015
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Karl Lagerfeld visits The Toronto Art Shoppe Lofts And Condos on April 1, 2015 in Toronto, Canada
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Karl Lagerfeld attends the 'Corsa Karl Und Choupette' Vernissage on February 03, 2015 in Berlin, Germany
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Karl Lagerfeld attends the Conde' Nast International Luxury Conference at Palazzo Vecchio on April 22, 2015 in Florence, Italy
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Designers Silvia Venturini Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld acknowledge the applause of the audience after the Fendi fashion show as part of Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2016 on September 24, 2015 in Milan, Italy
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Designer Silvia Venturini Fendi and designer Karl Lagerfeld acknowledge the applause of the audience at the runway at Fendi Roma 90 Years Anniversary fashion show at Fontana di Trevi on July 7, 2016 in Rome, Italy
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Karl Lagerfeld and a model are seen on the runway during the Chanel show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2017/2018 on March 7, 2017 in Paris, France
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Karl Lagerfeld is seen on the runway during the Chanel Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017-2018 show as part of Haute Couture Paris Fashion Week on July 4, 2017 in Paris, France
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Karl Lagerfeld greets the crowd during Chanel Cruise 2018/2019 Collection at Le Grand Palais on May 3, 2018 in Paris, France
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Karl Lagerfeld attends the LVMH Prize 2018 Edition at Fondation Louis Vuitton on June 6, 2018 in Paris, France
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Karl Lagerfeld in the background, acknowledges the audience as models present creations by Chanel at the end of the Chanel Spring-Summer 2019 Ready-to-Wear collection fashion show at the Grand Palais in Paris, on October 2, 2018
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Karl Lagerfeld walks the runway at Chanel Metiers D'Art 2018/19 Show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on December 04, 2018 in New York City
