Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Otto Lagerfeld, also called Kaiser Karl, (German: [kaʁl ˈʔɔtoː ˈlaːɡɐˌfɛlt] ^ⓘ; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, photographer, and creative director.

Lagerfeld began his career in fashion in the 1950s, working for several top fashion houses including Balmain, Patou, and Chloé before joining Chanel in 1983. As the creative director of Chanel from 1983 until his death, he oversaw every aspect of the fashion house's creative output, from designing collections to photographing advertising campaigns and arranging store displays. He was instrumental in revitalizing the Chanel brand, helping it regain its position as one of the top fashion houses in the world. He was also creative director of the Italian fur and leather goods fashion house Fendi, as well as his own eponymous fashion label. Throughout his career, he collaborated on numerous fashion, design, and art-related projects, and his photography was exhibited in galleries and collected in published volumes.

Lagerfeld was recognised for his signature white hair, black sunglasses, fingerless gloves, and high-starched detachable collars.

Karl Otto Lagerfeld was born in Hamburg on 10 September 1933 to Elisabeth (née Bahlmann) and Otto Lagerfeld. His father, coming from a family of wealthy wine merchants, was a prosperous businessman and polyglot, speaking nine languages; and owned an import company (Lagerfeld & Co.) specialising in evaporated milk, leading him to work with the American dairy company Carnation. During his travels, his father was present during the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake, escaping unharmed. A fluent speaker of Russian, his father had even attempted to gain citizenship into the country at the start of World War I, leading to an accusation of espionage and a three-year prison term in Vladivostok, eventually returning to Germany after the Russian Revolution in 1917. His maternal grandfather, Karl Bahlmann, was a local politician for the Catholic Centre Party. His family belonged to the Old Catholic Church. When Lagerfeld's mother met his father, she was a lingerie saleswoman from Berlin. His parents married in 1930.

His older sister, Martha Christiane "Christel", was born in 1931. Lagerfeld had an older half-sister, Theodora Dorothea "Thea", from his father's first marriage. His family name has been spelled both Lagerfeldt (with a "t") and Lagerfeld. Like his father, he used the spelling Lagerfeld, considering it to "sound more commercial".

His family was mainly shielded from the deprivations of World War II due to his father being a member of the Nazi party and his business interests in Germany through the firm Glücksklee-Milch GmbH.

As a child, he showed great interest in the visual arts, and former schoolmates recalled he was always making sketches "no matter what we were doing in class". Lagerfeld told interviewers he learned much more by constantly visiting the Kunsthalle Hamburg museum than he ever did in school.

In 1954, Lagerfeld submitted a dress design to the International Wool Secretariat's design competition. His submitted entry presaged the chemise dresses which would be introduced by Givenchy and Balenciaga three years later. In 1955, Lagerfeld entered another IWS competition and won in the coat category. He also befriended another winner, Yves Saint Laurent, and was soon after hired by Pierre Balmain who was a judge for the competition. He worked as Balmain's assistant, and later apprentice, for three years.