Seven words from Karl Lagerfeld adorn an entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s magnificent new exhibition honoring the legendary late designer: “Fashion doesn’t belong in a museum.”
Andrew Bolton, who directs the annual Costume Institute museum’s blockbuster shows, chuckled as he ushered a visitor through that door this weekend, a few days before the opening, while crews were busy nearby, to get ready for Monday’s splashy Met Gala.
“That’s what Karl said to me when I met him,” the star curator said. “He believed fashion wasn’t art – it belonged on the street. Well, I really don’t know what he would think of all this! I’m not sure if he would come.”
All This is a lavish, loving tribute to the prolific career of German-born Lagerfeld, who died in 2019 at the age of 85 after more than half a century of design that left a deep mark on luxury fashion, including at Chanel in particular at Fendi, at his own eponymous label and elsewhere.
Housed in 14 galleries, the exhibition walls were constructed to embody the essential contradiction or duality in Lagerfeld’s style and personality – a series of sinuous and straight lines. Entitled Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, the show is expansive but rich in detail and clear in its message: Lagerfeld’s creative tentacles reach far beyond fashion into culture, constantly adapting with the times.
What the exhibition intentionally fails to do is focus on Lagerfeld’s words — despite that quote on the door.
A design by Karl Lagerfeld will be featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute exhibit, Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, on Saturday, April 29, 2023 in New York
Many of Lagerfeld’s most well-known quotes have shocked people over the years, as he commented on issues like #MeToo (skeptical), curvy bodies (dispelling), and political issues like immigration (offensive, to many). What was more interesting for Bolton, he says, was focusing on work, and that was daunting enough. He examined 10,000 items before slowly sifting the show down to around 200.
“He was Karl,” the curator said, noting that Lagerfeld himself mentioned that he didn’t always mean what he said. “There could be 10, 20 different programs about Karl. I thought the way to get to know him better and to understand his contradictions is through his work.” And at the end of the day he says: “That’s his legacy – the complete body of work that you see here.”
Bolton’s shows, which have drawn many thousands of visitors to the museum, have focused primarily on concepts rather than individuals. But it’s hard to miss that this show, dedicated to one man, is more personal to him as he wanders the galleries and pauses in front of a relatively simple, tight-chested tweed suit with a tiny waist and exaggerated hips that he calls his favourite.
Each gallery combines contradictory moods: romantic and military, historical and futuristic, feminine and masculine, floral and geometric. Sheer tulle coexists with shiny black plastic. It’s amazing to think that the same spirit conjured up the pastel pink dress with cascading roses and a jaunty design with giant block letters that Lagerfeld loved because, says Bolton, “L comes after K in the alphabet.” So, KL.’
One standout is a glittering, gold-embroidered dress that was considered the most expensive of all time, Bolton said, because of its ingredients: It’s literally spun with gold. In contrast, another article is simply “plastic on plastic”.
What is striking is the diversity that makes it impossible to describe a Lagerfeld style, although his personal uniform became so recognizable that he called himself a caricature: the gray ponytail, starch white collars, black fingerless gloves, leather trousers, dark Chanel shades – a transformation of Mozart and maybe Keith Richards.
“Fashion doesn’t belong in a museum” was written above these colorful dresses
But that in itself, the show argues, is what defines the designer and explains their longevity: that they’ve constantly evolved in a determined — maybe even obsessive — attempt to stay relevant.
“He was a chameleon,” said Bolton, “who could change so quickly with the times. I think the reason he designed for so many years is because he wanted to stay relevant. Everything he did was about hitting the zeitgeist.’
Lagerfeld was also a man of many interests: literature, film, music – and also business, which made him an early example for designers as an impresario. To illustrate this, Bolton has created an object that is guaranteed to turn heads: a faithful recreation of Lagerfeld’s messy desk.
It’s stuffed with books, magazines, popular Caran D’Ache drawing pencils and a glass of Diet Coke (actually resin).
Everywhere: The mannequins were placed all over the wall
“He drank it all day,” Bolton said. “I’ve never seen him without his glass of Coke.”
To create the tableau, Bolton spent three days in Paris photographing Lagerfeld’s library. In order not to disturb the actual collection, he obtained books from Amazon. The cultural artifacts range from Highbrow to Lowbrow.
“He wasn’t a snob,” says Bolton, and then catches himself, “Well, he WAS a snob. But he was a Democratic snob.”
There’s also a sketch pad: open and blank: “We wanted it to look like he was about to sketch.”
It was also the sketching that provided the inspiration for the show. Bolton was at Lagerfeld’s memorial in the majestic Grand Palais in Paris – “a fuss, as you can imagine” – and was touched by footage of the designer sketching, “lost in his imagination, oblivious to everyone”. He started dreaming up a show. (Lagerfeld was also a close friend of Anna Wintour, the influential Vogue editor who helms the gala and is one of this year’s hosts. Chanel is the show’s main sponsor.)
One guitar was on the back of a dress while another contained a candelabra
The exhibition focuses primarily on the dichotomy of the curved “S” line (think romantic, decorative) and the straight line (modern, minimalist), with a curved wall and a straight wall in each gallery and designs that each to express aesthetics. Then there is a piece of clothing in the middle called “Explosion” that combines both moods. For example, a traditional pastel-colored ball gown is topped with a black motorcycle jacket.
Speaking of jackets, there’s also a military-style women’s police jacket designed by Lagerfeld as part of a competition held by the Rome Police to dress their female officers.
And there’s a room full of iPhones—yes, iPhones—their screens capturing moments of what the exhibition calls “Carlisms.” It’s an example of how the designer used his phone constantly in his creative process in later years – and from his vast collection of smartphones.
“I think he was ahead of his time, really,” Bolton said. “I think he saw where fashion was going back in the 1950s. And fashion finally caught up with him.”
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A replica of Karl Lagerfeld’s desk is featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute exhibit
Now in Ivory: Several looks in a lighter tone have been seen
One dress featured a long hemline that gave a new twist to the ‘mermaid’ finish.
On another wall were suits with a white feathered creation in the middle
Cute bows were used in some dresses on the right and Chanel suits on the left
Gold is good in these designs
On the far right was a rocker style with Oscar dresses in the middle
Steps were a theme in the dresses on the right
Karl Lagerfeld’s personal belongings are on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute exhibit
Color was another theme in Pucci looks
Another view of a room with a pink skirt was shown
So much to take in at once
There were seven different black dresses here
A closer look at this jacket revealed the double Chanel Cs on the buttons
Designs by Karl Lagerfeld are featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute exhibit
Flower power was a theme on this silver sequin dress
Letters formed a theme on this black and white beauty, left
Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty included a purse with his likeness on it
More looks with a 1960s feel can be seen here