Aron Bell 10/23/2013 Designer Analysis - Karl Lagerfeld ! Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1938, Karl Otto Lagerfeld is the youngest of three

children to a wealthy German businessman father and Swedish mother. His original surname was

“Lagerfeldt” but removed the ‘t’ in the spirit of self reinvention and he thought that it sounded

more commercial without it. Karl grew up in a wealthy household where conversations of

religion and philosophy were held at the dinner table. At the age of 14 he emigrated to Paris,

France where he studied drawing and history. Designers were impressed with his sketches and

this helped him get a foot in the door of the fashion industry. In 1954 after winning the

Woolmark Prize (first place) in a competition for submission of sketches and fabric samples in

the coat category he nabbed a position as the junior design assistant then apprentice to designer

Pierre Balmain, working on the haute couture collections. Lagerfeld worked at Balmain for 3

years, later saying “I was not born to be an assistant.”. After holding positions at Fendi, Chloe,

and Jean Patou he found a home in the Chanel house in 1982. People were telling him that taking

over creative direction at Chanel would be a mistake and that the brand was “ half dead” and

couldn’t be revived. In 1984 he began his own clothing label which he described as “intellectual

sexiness”. It was a success but he sold the label to Tommy Hilfiger in 2005. Currently Karl is a

photographer and artistic director at Chanel. His photography has been published and distributed

through photography books.

On June, 4th of 2013 Vogue magazine published an article about Karl Lagerfeld’s

comments on the weight of famous and highly succesful British singer Adele. His direct quote

was "I never said that she was fat. I said that she was a little roundish; a little roundish is not fat.

But for such a beautiful girl, after that she lost eight kilos [17.6 pounds] so I think the message

was not that bad.". Allegedly he sent Adele an array of free Chanel bags for his comment but no

one from his circle has confirmed this. I brought up this article because it shows how much

weight the opinion of Karl Lagerfeld holds. Everything about him is iconic and he has a very

large platform for anything he says or does. Others value his opinion because he has the

experience and knowledge of anything fashion related and he has surely paid his dues.

Lagerfeld is known for putting Chanel back on the map and has distinctively left his mark

on the collections he has cultivated. A noticeable trend in Karl’s designs are the usage of the

colors black and white. Each collection has an obvious amount of black and white combinations

that give a nod to the infamous Chanel logo. It’s also obvious that Karl Lagerfeld wears black

suits and white dress shirts about 85% of the time. During the Chanel Fall 2013 couture showing

Lagerfeld utilized silk, chiffon, and wool for many of the designs. Tweed was used in the Spring

2011 couture show and other runway shows that are lead by the creative direction of Karl.

Tweed, which is a derivative of wool, is the dominant fiber used in his collections. It’s what the

iconic Chanel suits for women are made of and it looks great alongside the designs.

Chanel has a reputation of being exclusive for older women who are wealthy, better

known as “old money”. In recent studies that has been deemed untrue. The demographic for

Chanel RTW and Couture garments are women that range in age 30-50,upper middle class and

identify with the elegance and modern simplicity of Chanel. Typically we see celebrities wearing

Chanel on red carpets or out to dinner but women who work in upper management positions in

offices also purchase and wear Chanel. The price range of items from the Chanel catalog is $299

to $8,000. Most Chanel items are in the size range of 0-4, they have yet to address the question

of if they offer an clothes for plus sizes. Merchandise can be found in stand alone Chanel stores,

department stores such as Neiman Marcus, and the perfume and skin care products are sold in

Macy’s.

Karl Lagerfeld has always interested me, he was very mysterious but I knew his face and

even his silhouette from anywhere. As I’ve gained knowledge of him over the years I began to

understand the things he’s accomplished with his personal goals and the Chanel fashion house.

He’s a major influence for photographers and designers and has been for some years now. Others

take cues from his elaborate and eclectic runway shows and push their own limits like Lagerfeld

has done. In the sense of design most designers look at what Karl has on and find the inspiration

in his daily wears, then implement it into their collections. Historically his reign at Chanel has

been one for the record books. Karl Lagerfeld revived Chanel back in 1984 and has kept them at

the top of the totem pole ever since. The collections have been fashion forward but classic at the

same time. Karl Lagerfeld has an artistic eye and it is reflected in everything he touches.