ICON FAREWELL TO AN

Emotional tributes have been flowing for Karl Lagerfeld since his death in late February. Former fashion editor and stylist Daniel Goh looks back on the life and legacy of Kaiser Karl

By now you’re probably dusting the superlatives off your shoulder pads and shaking the posthumous hagiographies off your designer laps. You can probably recite all the late Karl Lagerfeld’s achievements chapter and verse. And a biopic must surely be in the works (Glenn Close in a powdered ponytail as Kaiser Karl?). But here are some points you might have missed.

PUBLIC FACE

No one actually knows a whole lot about the real Karl Lagerfeld. Even his age was a matter of dispute. The Germanborn fashion designer, who died in Paris on February 19, was said to be 85 years old, but his birth date has never been confirmed. Even details of his illness and death were glossed over and some remain a mystery, and no account of his last hours has surfaced.

An icon of his own invention, Lagerfeld constructed and honed a glittering and impenetrable edifice over more than five decades in fashion, beginning in the 1960s when he started work at Chloé. Through the media, the Lagerfeld avatar wormed its way into the minds of the masses beyond the fashion industry, making him a global icon.

Lagerfeld was so starkly drawn that he was like an emoji: armour plate-like dark glasses over a wide mouth; white powdered ponytail joined to a stiff white collar; strictly tailored black coat with narrow sleeves ending in fingerless gloves; and heavy Chrome Hearts rings. In the 1980s and ’90s, he didn’t wear gloves but fluttered a fan. So recognisable was this caricature that Fendi was inspired to make the Karlito bag charms, which remain hugely saleable.

We think of Lagerfeld as a silhouette, one that has appeared on everything from tees to Diet Coke cans. We do not reflect on how this image was painstakingly assembled, much like how Chanel’s mega shows at the Grand Palais in Paris, with icebergs and rockets and waterfalls and gardens, were staged—through sheer force of will, with an army of enablers, military precision, limitless resources, discipline and vision.

PRIVATE PERSONA

Despite living his life in the glare of the media spotlight, Lagerfeld was untouched by personal scandal, unlike some other figures sharing the fashion industry limelight, such as John Galliano and Alexander Mcqueen. This reflected a life led with monastic chastity despite a Swiss Guard of male models and bodyguard-chauffeurs. His affection for his godson, the 11-year-old child model Hudson Kroenig, and his avowed desire to marry his cat, Choupette, while camp, just made him sound dotty, like a neighbourhood cat auntie.

HARD WORKER

People don’t give Lagerfeld enough credit for the gruelling grind that must have been his reality. To design multiple collections for multiple brands every season for decades is a colossal achievement. He also took the photographs for various ads and editorials. He drew illustrations for branding collaterals, invites and magazines. He wrote essays and handwrote notes, letters and cards. He designed interiors and shop windows, and schmoozed with entrepreneurs, business leaders and celebrities. It is no wonder he hardly slept. Lagerfeld turned up and delivered—for more than 50 years.

MODEST NATURE

Despite his outsized alter ego, Lagerfeld himself was humble at his core. He never built an eponymous fashion house of any importance, unlike Yves Saint Laurent (his arch-rival), Valentino Garavani, Miuccia Prada or even Calvin Klein. The various iterations of the Karl Lagerfeld label always felt boutique and secondary to the maisons he served, such as

Chanel and Fendi. He also worked for Pierre Balmain and Jean Patou, and even Max Mara, but he was always self-effacing, always subsumed by the big couture names.

HINTS OF GENIUS

Not enough is made of Lagerfeld’s voracious literacy (in four languages) and his scholarly pursuits. His mountains of books and papers would have given Marie Kondo a nervous breakdown, but his erudition gave gravitas to the Maison Lemarié feathers and the layers of Lesage lace he used in his designs. His knowledge imbued everything he created with a special refinement and polish you couldn’t find anywhere else. It gave a dignified sheen to even the unlikeliest of clunky Chanel shoes. The strangest fancies at Fendi had the sparkle of things that knew their place in the history of fashion, thanks to the depth of Lagerfeld’s expertise.

Besides a high IQ, Lagerfeld obviously also had a high EQ. His loyal friends and collaborators were legion, which says something about his personal warmth, because nothing could have inspired such loyalty up and down the hierarchy, from the Wertheimers (the family that owns the majority stake in Chanel), Fendis and Arnaults, to the petites mains (tailoring specialists at the ateliers), studio heads and model muses. While Lagerfeld was clearly a smooth corporate operator, he was also a rather lovely man.

SPEAKING HIS MIND

Unafraid to say what needed to be said, Lagerfeld wasn’t cowed into political correctness. He catered to clients who appreciated his beautiful fur creations for Fendi and continued making them right up to his last collection, which was shown just after his death. Some have taken issue with his snippy side, but it takes courage and integrity to say these things in the most PC of ages.

A VISIONARY

Lagerfeld was always looking ahead. An example of just how far: he made his beloved cat, Choupette, a social media and endorsement star, demonstrating with wry irony what modern celebrity meant and was worth. He voraciously consumed modern media, and was never far from a TV screen, multiple iphones and his 300 ipods. He embraced each successive generation of stars, however incongruous, incorporating them into the thrall of Chanel, inclusive and democratic to the last.

THE OG

Most important of all, Lagerfeld was simply an original. His ideas and creations were always his. He was never called out by fashion industry critics like @diet_prada for copycatting. He was a Renaissance man in a two-dimensional world, and each of his creations added lustre to the body of his work. He was also an uncomplaining stoic. Not only did he quietly do the work that has taken a toll on his contemporaries, he continued doing so right up to his last. Lagerfeld never let up, and his legacy will live on..