Personal life of Karl Lagerfeld. Karl Lagerfeld: biography and personal life Karl Lagerfeld has the highest award in Paris

The full name of the famous couturier is Karl Otto Lagerfeld. He was born on September 10, 1933 in Hamburg (Germany). The family was quite wealthy, the father of the future fashion designer worked in a bank.

Karl was a late child, at the time of his birth his mother was 42 years old, and his father was 60 years old. The boy was the only child of the couple, but he has two half-sisters.

As a child, Lagerfeld spent a lot of time studying foreign languages. His father was a true polyglot and was fluent in twelve languages. Karl was less successful in this area and mastered four languages: German, Italian, English and French.

Mom instilled in the boy a love for beautiful and stylish things. Even as a small child, Karl wore shirts with cufflinks and knew how to tie his own tie.

Introduction to the world of fashion

When Carl was 14 years old, the family moved to Paris. There, the young man entered the high fashion school. It was in this educational institution that Lagerfeld met Yves Saint Laurent.

In 1954, the International Wool Secretariat held a competition, as a result of which young Karl received his first prize. He was awarded for the best coat design. Lagerfeld was noticed by the leadership of the famous Pierre Balmain Fashion House and offered him a job.

In 1958, Karl Lagerfeld moved to the Jean Patou fashion house, where he worked as an art director.

As a guest designer, Lagerfeld has collaborated with Krizia, Charles Jourdan, Fendi and Chloé. Surprisingly, for each brand, the fashion designer created amazing, exclusive and dissimilar things.

In 1974, the fashion designer launched his first clothing line for men, which was a resounding success. After that, Lagerfeld was invited to become a professor at the Vienna School of Applied Arts.

high fashion genius

World fame fell on the fashion designer in 1980, when Lagerfeld worked at the House of Chanel on the ready-to-wear line.

Some time later, clothing lines “KL” and “KL by Karl Lagerfeld” came out of the hands of the master. In 1986, for his new collection for the Chanel brand, Lagerfeld received the Golden Thimble, a prestigious fashion award.

The Lagerfeld name becomes a sign of quality, style and sophistication. In his collections, the designer likes to use natural leather and fur, which is why he is regularly attacked by the animal rights society.

In addition to clothing, the fashion designer regularly releases his collections of bags and accessories.

Lagerfeld himself has been sticking to the same style for many years: a classic three-piece suit, leather gloves and glasses.

In 2000, the fashion designer released a collection under the Lagerfeld Gallery brand and showed it in Paris at Fashion Week.

In 2010 he was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor for his great contribution to the development of art.

Lagerfeld still works in the global fashion industry to this day. In 2017, under the guidance of the master, his student, Sebastian Jondeau, worked on his collection.

In 2018, Karl Lagerfeld launched a color cosmetics line with Australian cosmetics brand ModelCo.

Personal life and interesting biography facts

In addition to the design business, Lagerfeld devotes a lot of time to photography. Models, movie stars, musicians and athletes take part in his photo shoots.

For his photographic work, the fashion designer received the Lucky Strike Designer Award and the honorary prize of the German Society of Art Photo Lovers "Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Fotographie".

In addition, Lagerfeld is a great connoisseur of books and fine perfumes.

Several documentaries and feature films have been shot about the "great emperor" of fashion.

Lagerfeld often gets into the press thanks to his scandalous and outrageous statements. For some of them, the designer even had to apologize.

As for his personal life, the haute couture meter has never been married and has no children. According to Lagerfeld, his only love was Jacques de Bascher. They met in 1971 and were in a relationship until 1983. After that, de Bascher went to Yves Saint Laurent, which finally quarreled with the great couturiers, and five years later he died of AIDS.

This was a huge blow to Lagerfeld, after which he announced that his heart was closed forever. In recent years, he lived in a large mansion, along with several employees and a driver. On February 19, 2019, the legendary fashion designer passed away.

Today, September 10, the famous designer, Kaiser of the fashion world, photographer and creative director of the House of Chanel celebrates his birthday. On this occasion, we suggest recalling important, interesting, unusual and little-known facts from the biography of the eminent fashion designer.

Perhaps it’s worth starting with the fact that the exact date of Karl Lagerfeld’s birth is unknown: most sources give 1933, others indicate 1935, and Kaiser himself calls the year of his birth 1938.

Known for his impudent and peremptory statements, Karl Lagerfeld had a tough temper at an early age: by his own admission, on his fourth birthday, he asked his mother for a personal servant. By the way, today Kaiser has a housekeeper, a cook and a driver at his disposal 24 hours a day.

Karl Otto Lagerfeld removed the last letter from the original name (Lagerfeldt) to make it more commercially attractive.

By the way, at the beginning of his career, Lagerfeld did work under the pseudonym Roland Karl - it was under this name that he released his first collection for the House of Jean Patou, which failed miserably.

Karl Lagerfeld has hundreds of iPods. In an interview, the fashion designer explained his passion for "apple" products:

The iPod is brilliant. I have 300 of them.

But telephones (and, first of all, telephone conversations) Lagerfeld does not favor, preferring to communicate through letters and faxes.

Lagerfeld is a well-known book lover. As the designer himself admitted, there are much more books in his house than bookshelves, and the library itself has more than 300 thousand volumes.

In 2000, he founded his own publishing house, 7L, and later opened a bookstore in Paris under the same name.

What is the most important thing in the house of a famous fashion designer? Desktop? Cupboard? Turns out it's a trash can. All sketches, sketches, photographs, old clothes, accessories and other failed "legacy" of Kaiser fall into it - in his own words, he throws out absolutely everything:

I have to do something new and not remember the old!

Lagerfeld's voice can be heard in the popular computer game GTA IV, where he plays the role of the leading "local" radio station. As the designer himself stated, he is not a fan of video games, but was glad to be a part of it. He was especially attracted by the opportunity to conduct "politically incorrect conversations."

In 2010, for the German safe manufacturer Döttling, Karl Lagerfeld created what was then the most expensive safe in the world. Mirror Narcicuss authorship of the famous designer was released in the amount of only 30 pieces and cost 336 thousand dollars.

A year later, Lagerfeld created a signature collection of pens for the French brand, which, of course, also came out in a limited edition.

To create sketches, Karl prefers to use not ordinary pencils and paints, but the products of the Japanese beauty brand Shu Uemura, with which the fashion designer collaborates. For example, in the drawings of future clothing models, you can often find nail polishes, the palette for which was chosen by Kaiser himself.

In 2011, Carl "adopted" a small Siamese kitten, whom he named Choupette. The childless designer's favorite has two governesses of her own, a personalized bag, and several photo shoots in famous glossy magazines.

Source LDN Fashion

Source Thought Catalog

Photo Gettyimages.com/Fotobank.com

Photo Harper's Bazaar US

Karl Lagerfeld is a world famous fashion designer who became famous for his collaboration with the fashion houses Chanel, Chloe, Fendi.

Childhood and youth

Karl Otto Lagerfeld was born in September 1933 in Hamburg. The couturier himself claims that the date of his birth was 1938, and he can document this. The boy's father, Otto Lagerfeld, was a wealthy bank clerk. At the time of the birth of the son, the mother, a German by origin, was 42 years old, and the father, who had Swedish roots, was 60 years old. The boy turned out to be the only son in the family, but he has two half-sisters.

When Karl Lagerfeld was 14 years old, his parents moved to Paris. With their consent, the son went to study at a high fashion school: the young man's talent for fashion design manifested itself in Hamburg. In this educational institution for young fashion designers, Karl met and became friends with.

The first creative victory of Karl Lagerfeld dates back to 1954. Then the International Wool Secretariat organized a competition, as a result of which the 21-year-old (according to Lagerfeld - 14-year-old) guy received the first prize awarded for the best coat design. After that, Karl was invited to the famous Pierre Balmain Fashion House, where the young man gained experience for four years.

Personal life

Karl Lagerfeld's personal life is an affair with his best friend Jacques de Bascher, who died in 1989. In an interview, Karl admitted that there was an exclusively platonic relationship between them. After 12 years, the union broke up, and Jacques went to Yves Saint Laurent. 6 years later, de Bascher died of AIDS.

After the death of Jacques, the designer no longer connected his life with anyone. To personal questions, the fashion designer replied that his love had died and "it's all over."

Lagerfeld did not like questions about his personal life, arguing that it was indecent to talk about it in adulthood. In the last years of his life, three people were constantly in the fashion designer's house - a housekeeper, a cook and a driver.

After the death of a loved one, Carl's only affection was the Burmese cat Choupette. It used to belong to his friend Baptist Giabikoni. Leaving on a business trip, he asked Lagerfeld to look after the animal, and when he returned, he found that new friends were no longer able to part. The favorite starred in several advertising campaigns for the brand, inspired the fashion designer to create new collections and a corporate print. Especially for Choupette, the owner hired two maids and bought a separate plane.

Fashion

In 1958, Karl Lagerfeld was invited to Jean Patou, where the designer stayed as art director for 4 years. Disillusioned with the world of high fashion, the young couturier left Paris and traveled to Italy, where he took up the study of art history. However, Lagerfeld suddenly realized that he left the world of fashion early: in fact, he was not disappointed in it, but simply fed up with monotony.

Lagerfeld's creative biography continued in the mid-1960s. Carl has worked as an independent designer for four fashion houses - Chloé, Krizia, Charles Jourdan and Fendi. The uniqueness of the fashion designer was that for each brand he created exclusive models that were different from each other. In 1974, the designer launched his first line of clothing for men and immediately received an invitation to become a professor at the Vienna School of Applied Arts.

In 1980, Lagerfeld invented the skirt-short and mini-skirt fashion. But fame fell on the designer 3 years later, when he became the art director of the Chanel house. During that period, the fashion designer created a ready-to-wear line. A little later, new clothing lines KL and KL by Karl Lagerfeld appeared. The talented fashion designer managed to make the outdated Chanel style dynamic and modern. In 1986, for a new collection for this brand, Karl Lagerfeld received the honorary award "Golden Thimble".

In the late 1990s, Lagerfeld's style becomes closer to the famous style. Suits and evening gowns cut in the Belle Epoque style are gaining worldwide fame. At the same time, the individual style of Lagerfeld himself was finally formed, to which the designer remained faithful until the last days - these are dark glasses, a classic men's three-piece suit in black or gray and leather mittens.

In his own collections, the fashion designer liked to use leather and fur, which repeatedly provoked angry protests from animal advocates. In 2001, there was a scandal involving PETA activists. Since then, the couturier produces only one sable coat per year, while in former times the number of fur products was one hundred pieces.

The range of products produced by Karl Lagerfeld also includes accessories. The fashion designer annually updated the collections of women's bags, releasing small, medium and voluminous items, photographs of which were then posted on the official website. He also has a series of sunglasses, travel bags, cases for iPhone and laptops.

He produced couturier and shoes, mainly in the premium segment. It is believed that it was Lagerfeld who made the combination of elegant skirts and dresses with sneakers and rough boots fashionable: before that, designers could not even think of wearing these things together.

The designer's favorite top models are Stella Tennant. The girls, each in their own time, became the central figures at the shows of the master. Ines De la Fressange also participated in the photo shoots of the fashion designer.

In addition to his designer popularity, the fashion designer became famous for his talent as a photographer. For this Karl was awarded the Lucky Strike Designer Award and the honorary prize of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Fotographie. After these victories, the Karl Lagerfeld Gallery opened in the fashion capital.

Another gallery called Studio 7L appeared later. She became famous for the fact that at least ten new collections of clothes were born in her year. The indefatigable designer admitted that at that time sleep took 4 hours a day.

Karl Lagerfeld is a great connoisseur of books. There are thousands of copies in the designer's personal library. On his own behalf, the fashion designer founded the 7L publishing house, which operates a bookstore. In 2000, Charles auctioned part of his own collection of 18th-century French art. Lagerfeld himself became the author of several books on the history of fashion and photo albums. In 2004, in the book "Diet", he told readers his story of the fight against excess weight, and in 2013, a collection of his quotes "Karl Lagerfeld. The wisdom of life. Philosophy of style.

Another hobby of the master is the creation of exquisite women's and men's perfumes. Since 1975, Karl Lagerfeld has produced perfume brands Chloé, KL, Jako. The designer's favorite eau de toilette was the fragrance with the smell of a book, and the buyers liked the Fleur de Pecher line the most.

Karl Lagerfeld is called the fashion emperor by his contemporaries. In his advanced years, the designer was indefatigable and refused to take an honorable pension. For the last quarter of a century, the fashion designer has remained the creative director of the Chanel house. Lagerfeld dressed Hollywood stars and did not forget about his second passion - photography.

There is a Karl Lagerfeld brand store in Moscow, opened by BNS Group in 2018. You can also buy fashion designer clothes at TSUM or order them on online platforms, such as Wildberry.

In 2007, the film "Secrets of Lagerfeld" was released, dedicated to the designer, which was shot by Rodolphe Marconi. The first screening of the film took place at the International Film Festival in Berlin. Seven years later, the premiere of the full-length film "Yves Saint Laurent" followed, where Lagerfeld was played by Nikolai Kinski in his youth. Also in 2016, director Laurent Allen-Caron released the film Karl Lagerfeld. To be and to seem.

Throughout 2017, under the patronage of Lagerfeld, Sebastien Jondeau, a former fashion model, worked on his own fashion collection. The presentation of the clothing line of Lagerfeld's student took place in the spring of 2018.

On the eve of his 85th birthday, Karl Lagerfeld, along with the Australian cosmetic brand ModelCo, launched his own line of decorative cosmetics, which included lip gloss, eye shadow, lipstick, blush, powder and mascara.

From time to time, Karl Lagerfeld reminded himself of himself with scandalous statements that were discussed in the press for a long time. The master's quotes quickly became popular, as they were immediately picked up by glossy publications. For example, the couturier was extremely critical of overweight women. The fashion designer claimed that no one wants to look at plump women. The only occupation of such persons is to sit in front of TV screens with chips and discuss the ugliness of skinny models.

For some expressions, Lagerfeld even had to apologize, as happened in 2012 with the favorite of the British - the singer. Karl called the girl too fat, although he paid tribute to the "divine voice" and beautiful features.

Also, the fashion designer could not stand undersized men, believing that only a woman is allowed to be petite. At the same time, Lagerfeld himself was not particularly tall - 1 m 77 cm, and for most of his life he had to deal with being overweight. Karl later shared that the main incentive for him to lose weight was the opportunity to wear Dior Homme skinny suits again.

In another interview, Lagerfeld criticized Russian men to the nines, saying that most of them are "real freaks." But the couturier called the women of Russia the most beautiful in the world. To this, the fashion master added that in the place of Russian beauties he would prefer a non-traditional sexual orientation.

Another scandalous statement by Karl Lagerfeld concerned children. The designer said that fatherhood is the last thing he would like. And in general, he hated children, because "he was not born a family man." However, he still had collections of children's clothing, on his official website you can buy sweatshirts, t-shirts and accessories for kids.

Lagerfeld did not try to promote addiction to fashion brands. In his opinion, everyone is able to reveal a sense of style in himself, you can be irresistible just in jeans and a T-shirt - it all depends on the inner feeling. At the same time, the couturier was sure that beauty requires money, and claimed that he did not understand men who accuse the weaker sex of commercialism, because beautiful dresses, well-groomed hair and neat manicure that attract men do not go to women for free.

Death

On February 19, 2019, Karl Lagerfeld died at the age of 86. According to Le Figaro, the couturier has not been feeling well lately.

For the first time, the public was concerned about the condition of the fashion designer when Karl did not take the traditional bow at the end of the collection show in Paris. Since 1983, the couturier has always come out to greet the audience at the finale. Lagerfeld remained backstage in a wheelchair.

He later said that he did not come out due to a sprained ankle, but in fact the fashion designer had more serious reasons for being unwell. A month later, on February 18, Lagerfeld was hospitalized, and the very next day he died. According to media reports, the cause of death was pancreatic cancer.

According to the last will of the couturier, the farewell ceremony was not held. There was no funeral either: Lagerfeld's body was cremated, and the ashes were mixed with those of his beloved Jacques de Bascher and his mother. He does not have a grave, the place of storage of the remains of the fashion designer and his relatives is kept secret. During his lifetime, he explained that the posthumous rites were unpleasant to him and he wanted to "just disappear, like animals in a virgin forest."

In September 2019, a new collection of cosmetics was released, which Karl Lagerfeld developed during his lifetime together with the Loreal brand. Their collaboration was not advertised for a long time, but the couturier did not have time to present the novelties. Everything in the new collection, from the color of the packaging to the composition of the set, is a tribute to the tastes of the late fashion designer who loved black and white shades, bright shadows to accentuate the eyes and catchy lipstick.

Condition assessment

The late fashion designer's fortune is estimated at about $ 200 million. It is known that Karl Lagerfeld left a will, but his details are kept secret from the public. The public is still wondering who became the main heir, because the couturier had no close people by the end of his life.

The journalists managed to find out that Lagerfeld bequeathed part of the funds to the cat Choupette: the couturier had German citizenship, and German laws allow the transfer of inheritance to animals if a special fund has been previously organized for them and a manager has been appointed. However, Choupette is mentioned in the will only "among others", and the names of the other heirs are not disclosed. The media believe that this is the godson of fashion designer Hudson Kroenig, as well as his father, fashion model Brad Kroenig.

Quotes

“If you are wearing sweatpants, then you have given up. It means that something in your life has gone wrong.

“You should do what brings happiness. Forget about money or anything else that is accepted. If you are happy working in a village shop, work. There is only one life".

"Yves Saint Laurent? The average Frenchman, besides the provincial.

"The only form of love I believe in is maternal."

Bibliography

1998 - "Fans: from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century"

2004 - Diet

2004 - "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

2012 - "Little Black Jacket"

2013 - “Karl Lagerfeld. The wisdom of life. Philosophy of style»

Karl Otto Lagerfeld (German: Karl Otto Lagerfeld). Born September 10, 1933 (according to his own statement, September 1938) in Hamburg (Germany) - died February 19, 2019 in Neuilly-sur-Seine (France). German fashion designer and photographer. Knight of the Legion of Honor (France, 2010) - for his contribution to culture and art.

Karl Lagerfeld was born in Hamburg on September 10, 1933 in a wealthy, prosperous family of a bank clerk, Otto Lagerfeldt. Karl has no siblings, he is the last child in his parents' last marriage.

In 1952 he moved to Paris. He studied at the High Fashion Syndicate School.

In 1955 Karl won first prize in a coat design competition organized by the International Wool Secretariat. Then he became an assistant to Pierre Balmain, with whom he worked until 1958.

In 1959, Lagerfeld was invited to the House of Jean Patou, where he received the position of art director. Here he worked until 1963.

Since 1963, he began working with four fashion houses at once - Chloé, Krizia, Charles Jourdan and Fendi, creating completely different collections for each.

In 1974, Karl Lagerfeld founded his own line - Karl Lagerfeld Impression. In 1979 he received an invitation to teach at the Vienna Higher School of Applied Arts as a professor.

In 1983 he became artistic director of the House of Chanel. Worked on the creation of a ready-to-wear collection for Chanel. He founded the lines KL and KL by Karl Lagerfeld.

In 1993 he received the Lucky Strike Designer Award.

In 1987-1995, Carl collaborated with a major German clothing manufacturer, Klais Steilmann.

From 1992-1997, he again held the position of head designer at Chloé.

In 1996 he received a prize from the German Society for Photography. In 1998 he opened the Karl Lagerfeld Gallery in Paris.

Karl Lagerfeld is also known as the creator of perfumes. He created fragrances: Chloé (1975), KL (1982), KL pour Homme (1986), Lagerfeld Photo (1990), Jako (1997). Created a fragrance with the smell of a book.

Karl Lagerfeld owned an art gallery in Paris called Lagerfeld Gallery - Studio 7L.

In 2000, he founded his own publishing house in Paris called 7L. In the same year, he sold part of his collection of books on French art of the 18th century at Christie's auction. He owned the 7L bookstore in Paris.

He was a great book lover, owns a personal library of 300 thousand volumes.

In 2007, Rodolphe Marconi's Lagerfeld. Confidential premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.

In 2015, for the first time, he presented the “high fur” collection from Fendi, within which he created the most expensive fur coat in the world - made of sable fur, it was estimated at $ 1 million.

He passed away on February 19, 2019 in Neuilly-sur-Seine (France). For the last few weeks of his life, he felt unwell. Lagerfeld was urgently hospitalized on the night of February 18, and on the morning of February 19 he was gone.

Height of Karl Lagerfeld: 178 centimeters.

Personal life of Karl Lagerfeld:

Was not married, no children. After the death of AIDS in 1989, his life partner Jacques de Bascher lived alone. After that, by Lagerfeld's own admission, he was not interested in sex.

Karl Lagerfeld and Jacques de Bascher

His favorite was the Burmese, which became the heiress of the couturier after his death.

A Burmese cat was given to Lagerfeld in 2011 for Christmas. Since then, Choupette has repeatedly taken part in various advertising campaigns, and the fashion designer also dedicated a book to her pet. In honor of Choupette, the couturier designed several accessories, including key chains and bags with a predominance of black and white. The cat has its own pages on social networks.

Of the servants in his house, he kept only a housekeeper, a cook and a driver, who are at his disposal around the clock.

In 2014, the film Yves Saint Laurent by French director Jalil Lespert was released, which shows the friendship between young fashion designers Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent. The role of Lagerfeld was played by Nikolai Kinski.

In 2001, he was attacked by PETA activists who opposed the use of fur.

According to the New York Post, the fashion designer said he saw nothing reprehensible in the fact that people kill animals that, if possible, would kill people themselves. A PETA spokesperson responded that Lagerfeld's "delusional" statement and "kill or be killed" mentality are unlikely to apply to a mink or a rabbit.

All the secrets of Karl Lagerfeld

From an interview with Karl Lagerfeld:

“There are not many people whose opinion interests me. And I don’t care about the opinion of men at all. ”

“I don't believe in stress. This is a job, not a place for tantrums.”

“I don’t even have archives, I don’t store anything. I like what I do, not what I did. When people start to think that they did better in the past than they do now, it's time to stop. Many of my colleagues create archives and look at their creations as if they were some kind of Rembrandt. Please do not".

“One of the diseases of our time is to look back all the time. Forget about it. Fashion is now and tomorrow. Who cares about the past anyway?

“I don't wait for inspiration. The French say - ideas are born from work. There are large trash cans next to my desk, and 95% of ideas go there.”

“I don’t understand what the point of protest is until people stop eating meat and wearing leather goods. I myself hate the idea of ​​killing animals, but I think that technology has become more advanced in our time. In my opinion, the butcher shop is much worse. It's like visiting a crime scene. Terrible, isn't it? So I prefer not to think about it.”

“Many of them take themselves too seriously, call themselves “artists”. I believe that we are masters. Fashion is an applied art, and there is nothing wrong with that. And if you want to be an artist, exhibit in galleries.”

“I don't take ideas from the past. Sometimes I see something and I think: “This is not bad.” And then they say to me: “You did it 20 or 30 years ago.” Maybe I just don't remember. While you are in this business, you should not think about your work. In Germany, exhibitions are opening dedicated to my work in Fendi, Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, Chloé, etc. And I don’t even go to them, because I don’t give a damn.”

“I don’t like selfies. But everyone else loves and certainly wants to be photographed with me. It's good that my assistant is rude to passers-by on the streets. I can't do that, I'm a good person."