Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Karl Lagerfeld

Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld, a German-born fashion designer and artist
Volkswagen People’s Night 2008.
Author: Siebbi. WIKIMEDIA

Karl Lagerfeld was born on 10 September 1933 in Hamburg. He was a German Fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer.

He was the descendant of Elizabeth and businessman otto Lagerfeld. His Father was the owner of a company that produced and imported evaporated milk.

Lagerfeld’s mother was a lingerie saleswoman from Berlin. His family were followers of the old Catholic church.

He developed a great interest in Visual arts at a tender age. His schoolmates would recall that he was always making sketches.

Lagerfeld was well established as the creative director of the French house Chanel. He held this position from 1983 until his death.

Lagerfeld was the creative director behind the Italian fir and leather goods fashion house Fendi. He was also the director of his fashion label.

Due to his love of fashion, he collaborated on a variety of fashion and art-related projects. He was established for his signature white hair, black sunglasses, fingerless gloves and high, starches, detachable collars.

Let’s learn the Top 10 facts about the Iconic designer of Germany.

1. He was Brought Up in a Wealthy Family

Prince and Princess of Monaco with Hermann Bühlbecker and Karl Lagerfeld. Photo Sourced from WIKIMEDIA

10th September 1933 was his birthday year. He was born in Hamburg. Karl’s parents were Elizabeth and businessman Otto Lagerfeld.

His father owned a Company that produced and imported evaporated milk. His mother was a lingerie saleswoman from Berlin.

During world war, II his father had an interest in Germany through the firm Glücksklee-Milch M.Ths. is the reason why his family was protected from the deprivations of the war.

2. Lagerfeld was Notoriously Coy about the Year of his Birth and his Parents’ Background

Lagerfeld was established to misrepresent his birth year and his parent’s background. His parents were Elisabeth of Germany and Otto Ludwig Lagerfeldt. This information has been conclusively proven false.

His father was from Hamburg and he lived in Germany his entire life. He had no connection with Swedish. His mother Elisabeth Bahlmann never called herself Elizabeth of Germany as he said.

Lagerfeld insisted that no one had information about his real birth date. In 2009 he was invited for an interview on French television. During the interview, he said that he was born neither in 1933 nor 1938.

However, in 2013 he said that he was born in 1935. This was not true as his actual birth was announced by his parents. The parents published that he was born in 1933.

3. He Expressed an Interest in Design and Fashion at a Tender Age

One of the fashion designs of Karl Lagerfeld. Author: dalbera. WIKIMEDIA

Lagerfeld showed his interest in visual arts as a child. He would often Cut out pictures from fashion magazines and make sketches while in class.

He mentioned during most of his interviews that he learned more by visiting the Kunsthalle Humburg museum than he did in school.
Karl began his fashion ad design career in 1954.

He submitted a dress design to the international wool secretariat’s design competition. The dress foreshadowed the chemise dresses introduced by Givenchy and Valencia in 1957.

In 1955, Lagerfeld participated in a coat design competition. It was sponsored by the international wool secretariat. He won the coat category.

During the event be met Yves Saint Laurent who won the dress category and he befriended her.
He was later hired by Piert Balmain. He worked as his assistant. He later worked as an apprentice for years.

In 1958, he became the artistic director for Jean Patou. He also worked with multiple brands, such as Charles Jourdan, Chloe, Krizia and Valentino.

In 1967, he secured a job with Fendi. He modernized their fur line. He introduced the use of mole, Rabbit and squirrel pelts in high fashion. He remained with Fendi Rome until his death.

4. Karl Lagerfeld Created the Interlocking CC Channel Logo

Logo of the Lagerfeld stores on the facade of the Munich branch. Author: Henning. WIKIMEDIA

Lagerfeld was hired by the channel in the 1980s. He brought huge success after taking over the company. Karl revamped the ready-to-wear fashion line.

He created the interlocked ‘CC’ monograph of CoCo Chanel into a style pattern for the house of Chanel. He also made changes to the channel Silhouette.

5. When did Lagerfeld Launch his Brand?

Lagerfeld launched his brand in 1984. It was built around the idea of what he described as’ intellectual sexiness’. The brand was his own eponymous ‘Karl Lagerfeld’ brand.

His brand was established of quality tailoring along with bold, ready-to-wear pieces in bright colours. The bright colours caught everyone’s attention instantly.

Additionally, in 2002 he collaborated with Renzo Rosso, the founder of diesel. They established a special denim collection for the Lagerfeld Gallery. The collection was co-designed by Lagerfeld and developed by Diesel’s creative team.

It was supervised by Renzo Rosso. The gallery had five pieces that were presented during the designers’ catwalk shows. The shows were held during Paris Fashion week.

6. Karl Lagerfeld had a Unique Signature that Distinguished Him from other Designers

Karl was well recognized for his signature. His signature was white hair, black sunglasses, fingerless gloves and high, starched detachable collars.

7. Karl had his Own Diet Book

Lagerfeld wanted to wear clothes designed by Hedi Slimane but his body did not suit. He said that the clothes were for slim models. For this reason, he decided to lose at least 40kg.

It took him 13 months to lose the 40kg. He had a special diet created by Dr Jean- Claude Houdret. This led to a book called The Karl Lagerfeld Diet.

8. His Personal Library Consisted Of 300,000 Books Stacked Sideways

Karl Lagerfeld in his library. Photographed by: Stefan Strumbel. WIKIMEDIA

Lagerfeld had a great interest in the book collection. His Library was the largest in the world. His library had a total collection of 300,000 books.

9. Lagerfeld indicated that he would Marry His Cat if Legal

Lagerfeld was a love of animals. He owned a red point Birman cat. His name was Choupette. The cat lived a lavish life of luxury.

It had two maids who attended to her. The maids had to keep a daily diary of their activities and moods. During an interview, Lagerfeld said that if it was legal for humans to marry animals. He would have married his cat.

10. Lagerfeld was a Talented Photographer

Lagerfeld did not only have an exceptional artistic talent. He was keen on photography. He shot all of the marketing and media campaigns for each of his brands.

In January 2019, Lagerfeld developed health complications. He was admitted to the American Hospital of Paris in the Parisian suburbs l Neuilly-sur-Seine on 18 February.

Unfortunately, he died in the hospital the following morning. He had complications of pancreatic cancer. He requested for cremation and ashes spread at secret locations, alongside his mother and late partner Jacques de Bascher.