A larger-than-life figure whose career spanned seven decades, Karl Lagerfeld had many friends in fashion—and beyond. His work and legacy will be celebrated and examined in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” as well as at the Met Gala (the dress code is “in honor of Karl”). While we can expect many tributes to Lagerfeld on the steps of the Met, but ahead of that Vogue asked some of his friends and collaborators to remember him.
Oscar-winning director Sofia Coppola, for instance, remembered interning for Lagerfeld during the Chanel couture shows. “I will always remember the big bouquets of beautiful roses he gave all the interns at the end of the show, that made us feel so special.” Lagerfeld was a mentor to many, including Silvia Venturini Fendi and Claudia Schiffer. The latter remembered, “he transformed me from a shy German girl into a supermodel.” Below, read tributes from more of Lagerfeld’s inner circle, including Tom Ford, Willow Smith, and Amanda Harlech.
1/15Linda Evangelista
“Initially, when I met Karl I was intimidated because he was such a force, but the more I got to know him, I realized how warm and funny he was. There were shows where he tortured me by not giving me accessories knowing how much I loved them. He would say “I don’t think it needs anything”…and that was it! My most precious moments with Karl were the many times he invited me to stay at his home and not the hotel. We would talk about everything—except fashion or work—until the sun would come up. One-on-one with Karl, I found him vulnerable and real. I treasure those memories the most.”
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2/15Ralph Lauren
“Karl was the definition of passion. It fueled both his life and his craft. His abounding curiosity brought a spirit to fashion that was energetic and alive, a belief in both the dream and the reality. He was an inspiration to so many, but more than that he was my friend and always a generous supporter.”
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3/15Sofia Coppola
“I first met Karl when I was 15 and an intern during couture. He made a big impression on me on how you could be creative in so many different forms—design, photography, books, interiors, which helped me think about my approach to a creative life. He was very kind, curious and generous. Over the years he always encouraged my work which meant a lot to me coming from him.
I will always remember the big bouquets of beautiful roses he gave all the interns at the end of the show, that made us feel so special.”
Pascal Le Segretain/amfAR1/Getty Images4/15Tom Ford
“When I was living in Paris Karl and I often had dinner at Caviar Kaspia together. Just the two of us. Not many people were lucky enough to see Karl’s eyes as he was always in sunglasses but at dinner with me he would take them off. A gesture that I always took to signify friendship and trust. Karl was of course hysterically funny and his one-line quips are the stuff of fashion legend, but he could also be serious and reflective. I remember one night in particular I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. My career was moving in an upward trajectory very quickly and I told Karl that I couldn’t feel anything and that I felt that I was not taking it all in and appreciating what was happening. He told me that I would not feel it all until later. Until it was all past. I now know exactly what he meant, as I look back on those years with a fondness and gratitude that I did not feel at the time. And one of the things that I am grateful for was that I was lucky enough to know Karl and to look into his eyes.”
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5/15Willow Smith
“Karl Lagerfeld was a visionary and deeply passionate artist. I continue to be inspired by his memory. I’m honored and immensely grateful that I got to spend precious moments with him creating beautiful art.”
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6/15Giorgio Armani
“In 2001, I invited Karl to the Paris opening of Armani Casa. I did so out of friendship, to reciprocate his great kindness towards me and not least because I have always admired the very personal way he furnishes his homes: Karl was like a top architect, but he also changed with the speed of a fashion designer. Karl loved change and this, combined with his incredibly clear vision, allowed him to continuously rework his ideas into the most modern images and thoughts. He showed up at the opening with a brand new look: visibly slimmer, in a very tight black suit, with a high-necked shirt and tie: iconic, to use a term that I am not fond of but which perfectly sums up the impact he had on the public.”
Courtesy of Claudia Schiffer7/15Claudia Schiffer
“Karl Lagerfeld was my magic dust and my mentor; he transformed me from a shy German girl into a supermodel. Along the way, through meetings, shoots and shows he taught me about fashion, style, and survival in the fashion business. For one of the many Chanel campaigns, we went to Vienna, and I remember Karl dancing the waltz in front of the crew, laughing; this remains my favorite memory of him. I also remember a shoot in Munich for the fall 1993 Chanel campaign—an amazing denim collectsion—we were both so happy to be back in our home country. We devoured German delicacies such as Hefeklöse (yeast dumplings), German sausages and sauerkraut and tried to get the rest of the crew to partake! They were unconvinced!”
8/15Caroline de Maigret
“Karl was very fun and witty and brilliant, but what I was most amazed by was his faithfulness. That’s really rare nowadays. Chanel is famous for it too, it keeps its people forever.
I first met Karl when I was 20. I did a casting for the show, and his team asked me to stay for a whole month, so he could create the collectsion on me. It was very impressive to me, because I’m French, and the house is super iconic. And with Karl…I always felt like I had to be at his level—which is unreachable! But spending time with him, I realized that he also was always making jokes all day. In the 1990s, it was all about the supermodels and star designers, and Karl was even more of a superstar.
We met again when I was about 35. I was doing a radio show, and he came into my radio truck, and he was meant to stay for five minutes and he ended up staying for 20 talking about his relationship with music and fashion. When he was a kid, his mother played the violin, and he would turn the pages of the music. I hadn’t seen him in many years, and a week later, his team asked me to walk in the cruise show later on that month. That’s how I started to work in fashion again, and with Chanel again. I was extremely flattered to be asked—and surprised. I was 35 at the time, and age was different then. I wasn’t ready to go back to fashion. I had a life: I was a mother, an entrepreneur.
But going back was way more fun cause I had things to tell, things to share with Karl. It was a mature relationship, where you could talk about life and literature and the arts, which I couldn’t do when I was 20. Karl was very generous—to me, to his team, to his friends. His faithfulness was part of that generosity, and in turn, you never wanted to let him down; you wanted to keep bringing things to the table for him. But it was easier to make him laugh than to impress him with your knowledge.”
WWD/Getty Images9/15Jeremy Scott
“Karl was many things to many people but to me he was one thing most importantly—he was my friend.
Having come to Paris straight out of college in New York and to only have just entered the mainstage of the international fashion capital, with only a handful of shows under my belt, I would never have guessed that Karl and I would become the best of friends.
He took a liking to my work and really championed me and my vision. His mere “cosigning” of me as a designer made a lot of fashion’s “establishment” pause and take notice, and as a result, take me more seriously. I have so many memories of our times together; at L7 in the photo studio creating images, flying to Monaco for Helmut Newton’s birthday bash, and attending his shows. But I would have to say that the times I cherish most were those spent with him doing fittings at Chanel. I loved sitting next to him while he worked—observing the fluidity of his decisions, the precision of his vision, and his manner of ease. It was all so inspiring. He had a relentless dedication to creation.
During one of Karl’s couture fitting sessions, he told me he loved my outfit and wanted to take a photograph. He directed me upstairs to madame Chanel’s historically preserved apartment and took the photo that would become my favorite portrait of all time. I was wearing a vintage black motorcycle jacket over an old fake Chanel T-shirt with a real Chanel necklace that he had given me, and I was sitting on Coco Chanel’s couch. He loved the combination of real and fake, high and low, the masculine and the feminine.
He told me that I was the only designer other than Madame Chanel herself (and Karl of course) who had ever been photographed on that couch! Now if that is not enough to make an aspiring young designer’s dreams come true, I don’t know what is.
But that was just Karl. He was passionate about things and people that inspired him, and he loved and championed those people. He was the original original and I am forever grateful for his presence in my life.”
10/15Silvia Venturini Fendi
“I was only a child when I first saw Karl. His appearance and figure, wearing a white gown, made me think of him as a painter. I could feel something magic was happening and would perceive the energy and excitement from my mother and her sisters when he was around. When we started working together we had a very special relationship, based on a deep and very genuine mutual affection. Karl Lagerfeld has been my mentor and my point of reference. We didn’t need to talk too much to understand each other: a blink of an eye was enough. We had a lot of appreciation and respect for each other. ”
11/15Amanda Harlech
“Karl was a lightning conductor—he fed voraciously off positive energy. One of the reasons he could divide himself between collectsions, photo shoots, architectural projects, moviemaking, and exhibitions was because he gathered gifted and engaged teams around him. He could switch from house to house and from book to book like a blade of light. I remember him asking me once, at the Café Flore, if I had ever tasted a frankfurter. I hadn’t, so he ordered me one, and just as I took my first bite he asked me, in rapid-gunfire succession, “Why do you think Rilke is untranslatable from the German? What is your favorite Emily Dickinson poem?” His mind rolled like mercury. ”
12/15Tadao Ando
“I believe I first met Mr. Lagerfeld around 1990 in Paris when he approached me. I had designed a seminar house at Vitra in Germany from 1987-1993, but I remember meeting him before that time.
I often visited Mr. Lagerfeld’s house in Saint-Germain. Mr. Lagerfeld owns a bookstore [there], and there was an atelier nearby.
Mr. Lagerfeld likes architecture and photography, and every time I went, he took pictures in the studio behind his atelier. He also made a book about the Vitra Seminar House that I designed. When I visited his house, he asked me how I would like to eat, and asked me whether I would like Japanese, Western, or Chinese food. I’m not a gourmand, so if I ask for French cuisine, it’s served right away. They prepared 3 kinds of dishes at the same time so that I could order anything.
I can only speak Japanese, and specifically the Osaka dialect, so communication through language was a bit of a struggle. Dinners tend to be long. Mr. Lagerfeld even said, “Ando is something else, he endured a three-hour dinner even though he only understands Japanese.” Personally, I was hoping to receive praise for my architecture [laughs].”
13/15Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti
“Valentino had met and became friends with Karl in Paris in the 50s, but I didn't know him. One evening we were walking along Via Veneto and at the Harry's Bar Valentino recognized Karl and we sat down with him all night. He was all alone in a city that was still unfamiliar to him, which gave me a sense of fragility. He was in Rome to work for a maison owned by an American, Tiziani, who was never heard of again later on. It is the only memory of a more modest and fragile Karl, far from his strength and glamour.” —Giancarlo Giammetti.
Photo: Courtesy of Emanuele Scorcelletti14/15Carla Bruni
I was lucky enough to have known Karl for many years and I keep an indelible impression of life and ardor from him. It’s as if deep down he wasn’t really gone, as if he was going to enter the room any minute, followed by his royal procession. He succeeded in doing this, it seems to me, leaving a trace of him which still beats and which resembles him. Even gone, Karl remains alive. I often imagine him leaning over us from above, observing with satisfaction all the tributes paid to him here below...
My relationship with Karl has been long and stable, from my young years to his last show he showed me nothing but kindness and consideration. And despite the immense talent that was his, despite his charisma and his creative power, despite the energy he diffused and which animated him, despite the bewitching charm of his brilliant and sharp mind, despite his elegance and generosity and despite his wicked sense of humor, it is his kindness that I remember the most. These marks of friendship that were his, these signs that he sent in difficult times or in happy times, his delicacy towards others. Everyone knows the character that was Karl Lagerfeld and the aura that surrounded him, but all those who approached him know that just behind his armor of image and modesty there was also a kind heart.
Courtesy of Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele15/15Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele
So much connivance, complicity, wickedness, fun, and laughter working at the Chanel studio, on advertising campaigns, on editorial or just simply hanging out together. This was our sublime friendship!
His sophisticated, intense, and hilarious sense of humor was
tout ce que j’aime. Waking up to priceless hundred-page faxes and cruel caricatures put me in the best mood! The things I love the most with Karl are mainly unrepeatable. Missing Karl big time.
No one like Karl…ever.
