7 lessons Karl Lagerfeld taught the world

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The life hacker recalls the life of the famous fashion designer and tells what he taught us.

1. Don't put all your eggs in one basket

Karl is the main multi-source of the fashion industry. In 1954, he won the first prize in a fashion competition, and already in 1963, at the age of thirty, he created collections for four different fashion houses. One of them - Fendi - was on his resume until his death. In 1979, Lagerfeld launched the brand under his own name, and in 1983 he took the helm of Chanel, the most famous fashion house in history. Karl works with each brand in a special, re-invented style, adjusting to its format.

It would seem, what else to dream of? But at the same time, Karl managed to launch collaborations with the mass market, release his own collections of toy bears, dishes, a branded bottle of Coca-Cola, and even arrange a chocolate room in a Paris hotel. The perfect example of a person who has never been satisfied with what has already been achieved.

2. The world will see you the way you want

In addition to design, Lagerfeld was known as a photographer and shot most of his advertising campaigns himself. He also went down in history as a furniture collector, book publisher, owner of his own gallery and author of a bestselling book on weight loss. What is it: irrepressible energy or German pragmatism? It is not known, but the variety of interests and sources of income for Karl can only be envied.

3. Find your style

A snow-white powdered tail, black glasses, a narrow jacket and dark jeans - the unchanged appearance of Karl for decades has become almost a caricature of himself. People recognized Lagerfeld far beyond the fashion industry and his image is quite drawn to a separate brand.

True, sometimes this became the cause of problems. Karl could not go to a supermarket, a movie, or even just go out into the street without security, because numerous fans and onlookers with cameras immediately rushed at him. “There is no place in the world where I can safely go. Today everyone has a camera, - complained Lagerfeld - chick-chick-chick, and I am their doll, a puppet, Mickey Mouse at Disneyland, entertaining the kids. In Japan, women pinch my ass. I tell them: okay, I'll take a photo with you, but please don't touch me. You can't pinch a man of my age on the butt."

4. Never stop learning and being interested in everything around

Lagerfeld's huge library contains about three hundred thousand books: he loved them so much that he even founded his own publishing house Editions 7L, which publishes books on fashion, art, design and even cooking. Lagerfeld passed a wealth of information through him, starting every morning by reading the fashion and news press in English, German and French. He admitted that at one point he collected more than 100 MP3 players and even hired a special assistant who uploaded classical and modern music there. Relatives of the designer agreed that they had never met a more erudite and educated person.

5. Playing by the rules does not go down in history

When Karl came to Chanel in 1983, the house was going through hard times after the death of its legendary founder and was the lot of bourgeois matrons, who even dressed at Mademoiselle's. Karl did not stand on ceremony with the heritage of the brand and rather quickly reworked the codes of Gabrielle Chanel into light, modern things that the youth of that time dreamed of. A special breakthrough was the fall show in 1991, on which Karl was inspired by hip-hop culture. Supermodels of the 1990s, hung with massive gold chains, walked the catwalk: Linda Evangelista, Helena Christensen and Christy Turlington in miniskirts and neon tights. It seems that at this moment the fashionable critics of the old guard dreamed of Valokordin together. Reviews for the collection were controversial, but the house of Chanel was again talked about - and the brand returned to the number of the most talked about and sold brands.

6. Get inspired by the young

Karl did not like to talk about age and surrounded himself with people much younger than himself. Most of the time he spent with his beloved models Batiste Giacobini and Brad Kroenig, whose little son went to the catwalk by the hand with the designer and considered him his godfather. Karl also adored and always supported young starlets at their rise to fame - from Lindsay Lohan to Lily-Rose Depp, gifting them with dresses and filming in Chanel advertising campaigns. Recently, he has been especially close to the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford Kayu and even made a joint collection with her for the Karl Lagerfeld brand. "Young Blood" helped him to constantly remain on the modern agenda, despite his age.

7. Surround yourself with reliable people

Karl was always around not only models and paparazzi, but also his team: Lagerfeld had two houses, standing side by side, in one of which he lived, and in the other his servants and his own cook. Even designer Shupet's cat was looked after by two personal ladies-in-waiting - day and night - who made sure that her appearance was perfect and wrote down everything she did during the day in a separate diary.

At work, Karl also has a strong team. His right-hand man, Virginie Viard, who has already been named his successor by Chanel, has worked with Karl for over 30 years. Preparations for the shows were not complete without the designer's muse and close friend, the British aristocrat Amanda Harlech, with whom he could discuss his most daring ideas. Lagerfeld remained attentive to everyone around him: his bodyguard and personal assistant Sebastian Gendot worked side by side with the designer for 20 years, and then became the designer of the capsule collection for his signature brand.