Fashion World Bids Goodbye To Famed Designer Karl Lagerfeld

By
Nikoleta P
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Karl Lagerfeld. Photo by WWD/REX/Shutterstock (9262836eh)

Karl Lagerfeld spent five decades changing the way we see fashion, and the news of his passing took the world by storm. The famed designer died at the age of 85 in Paris, leaving an incredible legacy behind.

Lagerfeld became household name thanks to his continues efforts to bring the house of Chanel into a more modern era. He served as the creative director of this luxury fashion house from 1983, when CEO Alain Wertheimer gave him carte blanche to reinvent this brand.

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It is with deep sadness that the House of CHANEL announces the passing of Karl Lagerfeld, the Creative Director for the CHANEL Fashion House since 1983. An extraordinary creative individual, Karl Lagerfeld reinvented the brand’s codes created by Gabrielle Chanel: the CHANEL jacket and suit, the little black dress, the precious tweeds, the two-tone shoes, the quilted handbags, the pearls and costume jewelry. Regarding Gabrielle Chanel, he said, “My job is not to do what she did, but what she would have done. The good thing about Chanel is it is an idea you can adapt to many things.” A prolific creative mind with endless imagination, Karl Lagerfeld explored many artistic horizons, including photography and short films. The House of CHANEL benefited from his talent for all the branding campaigns related to Fashion since 1987. Finally, one cannot refer to Karl Lagerfeld without mentioning his innate sense of repartee and self-mockery. Alain Wertheimer, CEO of CHANEL, said: “Thanks to his creative genius, generosity and exceptional intuition, Karl Lagerfeld was ahead of his time, which widely contributed to the House of CHANEL’s success throughout the world. Today, not only have I lost a friend, but we have all lost an extraordinary creative mind to whom I gave carte blanche in the early 1980s to reinvent the brand.” Bruno Pavlovsky, President of Fashion at CHANEL, said: “Fashion show after fashion show, collection after collection, Karl Lagerfeld left his mark on the legend of Gabrielle Chanel and the history of the House of CHANEL. He steadfastly promoted the talent and expertise of CHANEL’s ateliers and Métiers d’Art, allowing this exceptional know-how to shine throughout the world. The greatest tribute we can pay today is to continue to follow the path he traced by – to quote Karl – ‘continuing to embrace the present and invent the future’.” Virginie Viard, Director of CHANEL’s Fashion Creation Studio and Karl Lagerfeld’s closest collaborator for more than 30 years, has been entrusted by Alain Wertheimer with the creative work for the collections, so that the legacy of Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld can live on.

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“Thanks to his creative genius, generosity and exceptional intuition, Karl Lagerfeld was ahead of his time, which widely contributed to the House of CHANEL’s success throughout the world,” said Wertheimer in a statement following Lagerfeld’s death.

In addition to serving as creative director of Chanel, Italian luxury fashion house Fendi entrusted him to take control of their creative direction as well. The experience he gained while working for these two fashion giants provided him with enough courage to start his own eponymous brand.

Lagerfeld spent his whole career breaking boundaries and exploring different artistic horizons. He dressed royals, Hollywood A-listers and supermodels everyone knows and love, but managed to become as recognizable as all of them, despite the fact he did all of his work out of spotlight.