Cara Delevingne, Claudia Schiffer, and More Get Candid About Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld's muses offer an appreciative portrait of the late iconic designer, from the women who knew, learned from, and adored him.
The legendary Karl Lagerfeld, shaper of so many women’s approaches to fashion and glamour, grew up surrounded by women who were fundamental to the evolution of his vision. Beginning with his mother, who was famously cold and judgmental—to the point of deeming his hands too “ugly” to be shown, which resulted in his constant glove-wearing style decades later—and so impatient that he developed the habit of speaking quickly so as to tell her everything before she left the room. Later in his life, Lagerfeld reinvented his mother’s history for journalists, transforming her from a saleswoman in a Berlin lingerie shop into a bohemian aristocrat who played the violin and flew monoplanes during World War I.
Then there were the women who helped him expand his imagination, like Andrée Putman, who instilled in him a passion for Art Deco; women who helped propel his career, like Gaby Aghion, who hired Lagerfeld at Chloé in the ‘60s; fashion visionaries such as Anna Piaggi and Amanda Harlech, who helped him define the style of Chloé, Chanel, and Fendi; the models to whom he assigned the embodiment of Chanel, such as Inès de la Fressange and Claudia Schiffer; and protegées such as Virginie Viard and Silvia Venturini Fendi, who under his training became formidable designers and creative directors in their own right.
Below, in honor of the Costume Institute’s exhibition Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, an appreciation of Lagerfeld, from some of the many women in his life who accompanied him on his incredible journey.
"He taught me the photographic techniques he used, and gave me books on artists I had never heard of." —Karen Elson, Model and musician
“Karl came into my life when I was just 18, and changed it forever. We collaborated for over 30 years on countless Chanel campaigns, for numerous fashion magazines and book projects, as well as for his own brand and others. He had seen my first British Vogue cover, shot by Herb Ritts, and asked to meet me. I entered the Chanel atelier on the Rue Cambon, full of nerves, but within hours I was being fitted for his new collection. Soon after, we headed to Deauville [where Gabrielle Chanel first established her boutique in 1913] to shoot the campaign on a windswept beach. Karl’s team was tight-knit. They welcomed me into the family and I’m still friends today with many of them. Another special Chanel campaign years later was in Vienna, where I remember Karl dancing the waltz in front of us, laughing. That remains my favorite memory of him.” —Claudia Schiffer, Model
"Karl taught me the importance of embracing your weirdness." —Cara Delevingne, Model and actor
"He was a mentor, a teacher, and a grandfather to us." —Vittoria Ceretti, Model
“[He was] extremely intelligent, intuitive, and fast; curious and open to everything. You could discuss any topic with him and he would have an interesting point of view… But what was the most interesting was the angle through which he was seeing things; with him every single part of a conversation could be transformed into a new idea…I remember telling him that I was furious because my son, Louis—11 years old at the time—had drawn graffiti in the elevator of our building. The first question that came to him was: ‘And so? Was it beautiful?’ I said, ‘Yes, Karl, it’s quite nice but really a nightmare to erase!’… The next day, my son was hired to create graffiti art for a collaboration we had with Macy’s.” —Caroline Lebar, Head of Image & Communications at Karl Lagerfeld
