The end of an era

While we mourn the death of Karl Lagerfeld, we also look forward to what this might mean for an industry notoriously slow to get with the times Sabrina Maddeaux

There’s no question Karl Lagerfeld was an incredible talent. The German designer, who died Tuesday at the age of 85, transformed Chanel into a global empire. His creative vision combined with sharp business instincts forever changed the luxury fashion industry and inspired countless other designers. In his trademark black suit, white shirt, dark sunglasses and powdered ponytail, he pioneered the concept of a personal brand. Even his cat, Choupette, is a millionaire with no fewer than two maids at her disposal.

While we mourn the death of a man whose innovation and influence are unquestionable, we might also recognize what his dying symbolizes: the end of a fashion era that was overdue for a change.

Certainly, Lagerfeld embodied some of the best things about fashion, but he also represented some of the worst attributes of what can be a dark, destructive industry. For every celebrated collection, Lagerfeld’s history is littered with just as many highly publicized quotes — often generously described as “controversial” — that were misogynistic, racist and just plain cruel.

His thoughts on Kate and Pippa Middleton: “Kate Middleton has a nice silhouette… On the other hand, her sister struggles. I don’t like the sister’s face. She should only show her back.” On models: “No one wants to see curvy women on the runway.” On Princess Diana: “She was pretty and she was sweet, but she was stupid.” On Angela Merkel opening Germany’s borders to migrants: “One cannot — even if there are decades between them — kill millions of Jews so you can bring millions of their worst enemies in their place. I know someone in Germany who took in a young Syrian and after four days said: ‘The greatest thing Germany invented was the Holocaust.’”

In 2018, Lagerfeld defended stylist Karl Temper, who was accused of pulling down models’ underwear without consent: “If you don’t want your pants pulled about, don’t become a model! Join a nunnery, there’ll always be a place for you in the convent.” He also dismissed the #MeToo movement as a whole: “I’m fed up with it. I don’t even eat pig. (In France the movement is known as #BalanceTonPorc.) What shocks me most in all of this are the starlets who have taken 20 years to remember what happened. Not to mention the fact there are no prosecution witnesses.”

While any one of these comments would have ended a lesser designer’s career, Lagerfeld got away with it because of his immense talent and stature in the industry. Like so many creative fields, fashion has long been willing to look past reprehensible attitudes and actions in the interest of the greater artistic good.

Lagerfeld had long been considered fashion’s last mad genius — a harmful stereotype that idolizes brilliance, and excuses bad behaviour. It implies that the couturier’s distasteful public comments came from the same place as his creative, boundary-pushing designs. Furthermore, it gives licence to up-and-coming creators to mimic his words and actions, believing it’s all part of the same package.

As arguably the most influential person in fashion, Lagerfeld had the opportunity to spark meaningful change beyond the bottom lines of fashion houses and the length of next season’s hemlines. Rather, he chose to excuse and enable bigoted ideas and abusers through his words. He chose to belittle and demean women — by and large, the demographic which buys and wears his clothes. He chose to propagate body shaming in an industry already culpable for countless eating disorders, hospital visits and deaths.

These words weren’t simply overheard from private conversations. They were quotes he willingly gave to media outlets time and time again, knowing they would be broadcast and amplified throughout the world.

The fashion industry has some much overdue soul-searching to do. While there have certainly been improvements in recent years, the march toward progress has been too slow for an industry and art form that considers itself to be on the cutting edge. Now, as the world reflects on Lagerfeld’s career and legacy, we can do more than mourn a great talent. We can — and should — also acknowledge the less savoury aspects of his public persona, and use them to help build a better future for an industry about to enter a new, post-Lagerfeld era.