The Story of Fashion

Karl-Otto Lagerfeld was born in Hamburg, Germany on September 10, 1935. In 1954, he entered a fashion competition called the International Wool Secretariat and won the coat category. He was hired at the couture house of Pierre Balmain, where he stayed for three years until he left for Jean Patou, where he stayed for five years. He then did freelance design work for Krizia, Ballantyne, Charles Jourdan, and Chloé, where he stayed for over 10 years before leaving in 1982. He was the creative director of Chanel since 1983 and Fendi since 1965. He started his own brand in 1984, the Lagerfeld line. In 2015, he received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Fashion Awards.

He was also a photographer and wrote books including The Karl Lagerfeld Diet and The World According to Karl. He died on February 19, 2019.

030