Karl lagerfeld & The Met Gala 2023
Let’s take a look back at Karl Lagerfeld’s fashion legacy, some of his most inspiring works, and what I’m expecting from this year’s Met Gala red carpet.
“Haute Couture is an island of dreams and escapism. It is the utmost luxury which transcends fashions and crosses time.”
The first Monday of May is tomorrow, and the fashion world is on the edge of its seat waiting for their feeds to flood with Met Gala looks. The red carpeted staircase of the Metropolitan Museum of Art can be considered the field in which fashion’s Super Bowl takes place. This year’s Costume Institute Exhibit is entitled, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”, and gala attendees have been instructed to dress, ‘in honor of Karl’. In recent years, stars and celebs have grown notorious for dressing (way) off theme. The realist in me expects many disappointingly safe looks (men in black tie suits and slapping CC logos on boring silhouettes). Still, I’m hopeful for lots of archival showstoppers and imaginative attires.
As one of fashion’s most recognizable and impactful contributors, Karl Lagerfeld transformed the meaning of fashion by shifting industry standards and proving the potential of presumably dead ventures. An absolute visionary icon. Through his work at Balmain, Fendi, Chloé, and of course, Chanel, he proved his mastermind and everlasting impression the fashion industry He’s arguably the most influential creative directors in fashion history, and an unapologetically opinionated one at that. So, ‘in honor of Karl’ posits the question, “What would Karl do?”, or better yet, “What wouldn’t Karl do?” In fittings and design processes. Although his judgmentalism will be of absence, that of millions of online viewers and unauthorized critics is sure to be present.
About the exhibit…
“So at its heart the exhibition will look at the evolution of Karl’s two-dimensional drawings into three-dimensional garments. And what’s fascinating to have discovered: I always thought that his drawings were very spontaneous and almost impressionistic. But they were in truth extremely precise, almost mathematical. We couldn’t see it because we are not trained, but his premiers knew down to the millimeter what each line meant. It was almost a secret code, a language shared between him and those premiers, that only they could fully decipher.”
Recalling the career of Karl Lagerfeld…
Time at Fendi
Hired to modernize their fur line, Karl’s first 1967 collection proved groundbreaking and set him off to be a master of fashion resurrection and renewal. Karl also imagined the original FF logo. Asked by Fendi executives of the time to, “to create a small modern collection of furs. But I also wanted them to be fun, which is one of the Fendi codes. And since Fendi and fun have the same initials, I sketched the two letters together in less than five seconds, creating the FF logo, meaning Fun Furs.”
Standing as creative director of Fendi until his death in 2019, Karl’s partnership with the brand was the longest of his career, out-longing his time at Chanel by nearly 15 years.
“Fendi is fur — and fur is Fendi.”
Karl Lagerfeld
Time at Chanel
Taking reign as creative director of the desperate brand in 1983, Karl “manipulated and modernized the classic Chanel suit and many, many more of the brand’s éléments éternels, from the quilted bag, pearls, gold chains, and buttons to the camellia motif, black bows, and two-tone shoes… Lagerfeld has from the start taken Coco’s sacred codes and subverted them—mocked them, even, as he borrows from pop culture and injects a soupçon of biting wit.” -Vogue Runway
He raised and tightened skirts, enlarged and miniaturized jewelry and exaggerated classic Chanel motifs. This including the CC logo, in which he used to turn logo usage from drab to fab across all fashion houses.
If I was attending…
When researching Karl, I found this short film envisioned and directed by Karl for 2011/12 Cruise Collection. He’s made a few of these for other collections, but this one stood out from the rest. It makes absolutely no sense. HAHA. It’s actually so weird. But the visuals. chefs kiss. Dramatic, ambiguous and obscure - just as anything Karl created. It’s perplex and mesmerizing at the same time. Posh and moody, classic Karl. The old money aesthetic and total elusiveness perfectly embodies the Chanel fairytale. I love it, weirdness and all. I would drool over an ode to “The Tale of a Fairy” on tomorrow's red carpet. These are all the vibes I’m expecting (and better get).
I’ve become super inspired by Karl’s attitude, his lasting work at Fendi, the total genius rebranding of Chanel, his industry relationships, and of course his iconic black and white uniform.
When I think of Karl Lagerfeld, Claudia Schiffer always approaches my rumination. As Karl’s coveted main muse of the 90’s, Claudia graced the Chanel catwalk in countless swoon-worthy looks. The closing bridal looks are what we hold most astonishing. “Karl Lagerfeld crowned her the official queen of Chanel. She always opened and closed his shows, usually wearing one of his couture wedding dresses or a tweed mini draped in pearls, while strutting and smiling like no one else could.” -Vogue Runway
These would be my top pulls for this year’s Met Gala:
Some more pulls from the Chanel archives…
I’m already dreaming of all the Karl interpretations we’ll see tomorrow night and especially interested in what houses like Fendi, Chloé, and Balmain have up their sleeve. I’m sure we can expect to see designer’s creations made for the Vogue US May cover story on the carpet. I’m envisioning loads of costume jewelry, fur fantasies, bold headpieces, total chic-sweet attitude. Sunglasses, leather fingerless gloves and gaudy brooches are a must. I’ll be expecting pearls, tool, tweed (ugh, fine), two-toned shoes, and quilted leather as well.
Will the 2023 Met Gala redeem its dress code stature? I guess we’ll find out when the clock strikes 6:30 pm.
Learn more about Karl and his works… Here are some videos I enjoyed watching.