One of fashions great icons has past onto the next world, Karl Lagerfeld. My first exposure came when I saw the famous white pony tail, leather gloves, black suit, and dark sunglasses.
His own look was distinctive and unwavering. Despite the fact that it was essentially a black suit with white shirt and tie, his accessories turned basics into bold. The leather gloves, high collar turned up, and occasional jewelry ensured that you took notice.
There was a never time that I saw Lagerfeld photographed in anything but his signature style. I came to wonder if he did it to leave all the attention on his own creations and stopping any talk about how he dressed as an individual, or if his style was a way to ensure that he was never missed.
His first big break came in 1967 when he started at Fendi. He would go on to work with Fendi through his entire career. In the 1980’s he resurrected Chanel from the dead bringing it’s ready-to-wear line into huge appeal. Four years later he launched his own brand aptly named “Karl Lagerfeld”.
Karl was constantly busy and intellectually fast moving. The average person was probably unaware that he was also involved in several side projects outside of fashion to satisfy his intellectual thirst including home design, voice acting starring in the movie “Totally Spies! The Movie”, and in 2013 he regularly penned political cartoons for a German newspaper.
As a celebration of his life, I have included below some of my favorite designs of his:
PHOTO © PETER STIGTER FILENAME IS DESIGNER NAME FALL/WINTER 2010 
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The side projects surprised me most, especially the political cartoons and even voice acting in Totally Spies, which shows how wide his creative interests really were.
I didn’t realize he stayed with Fendi from 1967 all the way through his career, that kind of longevity is rare now and says a lot about how integral he was to the brand’s identity.
That description of his uniform really hit home; the white ponytail, gloves, and high collar were basically a logo in themselves, yet somehow never overshadowed the Chanel and Fendi work he was presenting.
Your point about turning a simple black suit into something bold through accessories sums him up perfectly, he proved styling can be just as powerful as design.
I always associate him with Chanel’s revival, but I’d forgotten how much he expanded their ready-to-wear in the 80s, which really reshaped how people engaged with the house.
The idea that he might have dressed consistently to keep focus on his designs is interesting, because his look was so iconic it almost became another layer of branding.