Karl Lagerfeld's journey to turn Chanel into an illustrious french empire

Despite leaving an indelible mark on both Chloé and Fendi, the proudest legacy of Karl Lagerfeld’s career is undoubtedly the creative revolution at CHANEL. In the exciting atmosphere ahead of 2023 Met Gala with the theme “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”, Dep kicking off Karl’s journey to discover the revival of Karl’s French fashion empire CHANEL.

Karl Lagerfeld’s journey to turn Chanel into an illustrious french empire

Before Karl Lagerfeld took over CHANEL in 1983, the French brand founded by Gabrielle Chanel once at the height of 20th-century Parisian couture had stagnated. Most of the customers at the time were old traditionalists. After Karl Lagerfeld assumed the position of artistic director leading the fashion house’s creations, the German designer gradually revived CHANEL with a youthful energy that increased the purchasing power of customers for product categories. leap.

At that time, Karl Lagerfeld was known as the “witch” of the French fashion village with a unique post-modernist design, combining classic and neat suits with the liberal spirit of street style.

In fact, there are very few designers who have revolutionized the history of fashion. Gabrielle Chanel is one of them, and next is Karl Lagerfeld. His vision that was ahead of his time is articulated clearly across the collections each season.

Inheriting the legacy of founder Gabrielle Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld uses modern and youthful fashion language to express his passion for the fashion house’s massive archives as well as pay his respects to the female designer. next. Karl’s first collection at CHANEL was reminiscent of familiar silhouettes from the ’20s and ’30s. Chanel revolutionized the post-World War I fashion scene by reinventing the fabric and upper form. Traditional unstructured menswear to apply to womenswear design.

The comfort of menswear has attracted many ladies. Because at that time, there were too many restrictions on women’s clothing that made their movement inflexible. CHANEL’s clothes have a beautiful and elegant shape, bringing comfort to the wearer. Similar to Coco Chanel’s design, Karl Lagerfeld’s fashion also shows the liberation of women from the rules.

The late creative director Karl Lagerfeld breathed new life into a classic tweed suit in 1925 with modern touches. Appearing in all of his collections at CHANEL, Karl’s tweed suit versions have become the exclusive symbol of the French fashion house. Gradually, Karl developed more denim and leather goods, and at the same time added transparent plastic, wood, or even digital printing for more diverse and innovative designs.

Even in a time when social media was still a strange concept, Karl Lagerfeld made the fashion world stir before his shows at CHANEL. In the mid-’90s, Karl took advantage of the hip-hop wave to supplement his collection with oversized gold chain designs inspired by street style. Another collection that Karl launched, inspired by surfing, also received a lot of attention from fashionistas. As can be seen, he has combined his extensive knowledge of fashion history with a passion for contemporary culture to create collections that resonate.

At CHANEL, Karl Lagerfeld developed the Cruise collection and brought them to many parts of the world. At the same time, he also launched new collections, such as the Métiers d’Art in 2002 that celebrate CHANEL’s traditional savoir-faire art. During his 36 years with the French fashion house, Karl introduced a wide range of accessories, sportswear, and iconic products. Including the CHANEL Classic Flap bag (a modernized bag from Gabrielle Chanel’s 2.55 model), CHANEL Boy, CHANEL Gabrielle, CHANEL 19…

The ambition to conquer customers and the keen vision of a person who understands many aspects of fashion have motivated Karl Lagerfeld to regularly launch many collections during the year, even taking on creative tasks for many people. other fashion houses at the same time. And the invaluable legacy that Karl left to CHANEL as well as his dedication to timeless values continue to be inherited and developed by the artistic director Virginie Viard.