Karl Lagerfeld Biography

Vita

• Early years

  Karl Otto Lagerfeld grew up in affluent circumstances in and around Hamburg.

• 1952

  He moves to Paris for the first time and lived there in a dormitory for minors in Rue Sorbonne.

• 1954

  He wins first place in a competition of the International Wool Secretariat for the design of a coat. This is followed by an apprenticeship as a tailor with Pierre Balmain, who himself is a juror of the competition.

• 1958

  Lagerfeld moves to the successful designer Jean Patou, where he held the position of artistic director until 1963.

• 1964–1965

  Lagerfeld designs collections for the Italian fur and fashion company Fendi (now LVMH).

• 1967

  After working as a freelance fashion illustrator for some time, the then Chloé managing director Rosemarie Le Gallais hired him.

• 1974

  Lagerfeld starts his first own company in Germany, Karl Lagerfeld Impression. He ends his work for Chloé for now.

• 1978–1983

  The designer works for various companies, including again for the house of Chloé.

• 1978

  Lagerfeld designs the first costumes in Genoa. Projects for the Vienna Burgtheater and the Salzburg Festival follow.

• 1980–1984

  Lagerfeld was the first fashion designer to hold a guest professorship at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.

• 1982

  Lagerfeld became designer of the haute couture collection at Chanel, helping the then dusty fashion brand regain its splendor and rise to become an internationally successful billion-dollar corporation.

• 1984

  The fashion designer starts his label Karl Lagerfeld together with the French textile manufacturer Bidermann. This has been sold on several times since 1987, before the brand rights revert to Lagerfeld himself in 1997.

• 1985

  Lagerfeld receives the Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

  

• 1996–1999

  The KL line, which has been existing since 1988, is available in the Quelle catalog (popular German shopping catalog like the Sears catalog).

• 1992–1997

  Lagerfeld is once again chief designer at Chloé.

• 1996

  Lagerfeld is awarded the Culture Prize of the German Society for Photography.

  

• 1998

  He designs a women's collection under the name Lagerfeld Gallery while opening boutiques of the same name together with Andre Putman selling not only clothes, but also books and exclusive photographs.

• 2004

  Lagerfeld's collaboration with fast fashion company H&M caused an international sensation. Lagerfeld is the fashion discounter's first design collaborator and establishes a series of collaborations.

• In the same year, Lagerfeld designs stage outfits for Madonna, and the following year also for Kylie Minogue.

• 2005

  The Lagerfeld brand becomes the property of the U.S. based Tommy Hilfiger group and subsequently changes ownership several more times.

• 2008–2010

  In the following years, Lagerfeld is repeatedly involved in a variety of design projects away from the world of fashion, such as the creation of a Steiff teddy (2008), participation in the design of The World (Dubai, 2008-2010, discontinued), a limited edition Coca-Cola Light bottle (2010) or a Swarowski collection (2010).

  

• 2017

  He designs a women's collection for German online fashion-retailer Zalando.

• 2019

  Lagerfeld dies of cancer in 2019 at the age of 85.

• 2022

  The US group G-III (including DKNY, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger) takes over the Karl Lagerfeld brand. Handelsblatt