Karl Lagerfeld – The man behind the 2023 Met Gala – Honor B
Those of you familiar with Met Gala most certainly will have encountered the name Karl Lagerfeld last year, in fact, the theme of the 2023 Met Gala was: Karl Largerfeld-A Line of Beauty, with the intention of attendees honouring the legacy of the man behind some of the most iconic pieces in fashion history. Despite having a Met Gala dedicated in his name, I was shocked to learn of the amount contentious actions and words that he had displayed throughout his career, and that he was certainly one of the most controversial figures in high fashion, notwithstanding some tough competition.
In 1983 Karl Lagerfeld joined Chanel, taking on the role of creative director after the death of Coco Chanel. As creative director Lagerfeld administered the brand, in the process creating a multitude of celebrated designs, in the process creating a successful eponymous brand. In addition to Lagerfeld’s ubiquitous designs, his distinctive look made him a key figure, easily recognised in the industry as he was often seen sporting dark sunglasses and sleek ponytail. Throughout his career as well as a plethora of achievements he also encountered and created many tribulations.
I first discovered Lagerfelds surprising comments surrounding the way that he treated the models that he worked with, which was again shocking due to the fact he is renowned for working with the likes of Claudia Schiffer, Vanessa Paradis and Cara Delevigne. Lagerfeld was known to make rather disturbing comments regarding their weight – more specifically he was quoted saying that Heidi Klum was “too heavy” and that Chanel herself was “too ugly” to be a feminist. Unfortunately, his comments didn’t stop here. Lagerfeld was also noted saying that he was “fed up” with the Me Too movement, working in the fashion industry compliments working with a majority of women so once again Iwas shocked to realise that online coverage of these remarks was sparse, it seems that despite being a man with such polarising views in his lifetime Lagerfeld seemed to on the whole escape the grasp of cancel culture, although this does beg the question: would Lagerfeld have a lasting career in 2024?
If the information that you have read already was not vexing enough, unfortunately there is more to cover. In 2017 to add to the list of insensitive remarks, Lagerfeld revealed himself to be antisemetic too, making odious remarks about the holocaust, not once but twice, on record. In addition, highly distasteful comments on immigration mixed with problematic views on gay marriage, it is clear to see that Lagerfeld was not a man that spoke to please people but to provoke and offend them.
Anna Wintour, the creative director for Vogue, spoke on her choice to pay homage to Lagerfeld in the form of the 2023 Met Gala stating that her decision was the rightful one, that we cannot ignore the impact that he had on the industry and the creativity that he brought to Chanel, Fendi, Chloe, and Versace. It seems that none of the celebrity attendees protested the choice of theme, apart from online discourse on twitter and other social media groups where many aimed to highlight that Lagerfelds career was not all to be celebrated. To upset the likes of Anna Wintour is usually avoided at all costs by the majority of celebrities, so perhaps this is the reason behind the lack of uproar.
In art the extent to which we should separate the artist from their designs is often debated, and Lagerfeld is the perfect model for this question. The Met Gala and the people behind it, however, chose to take a different approach: to honour the work of Lagerfeld as well as the man himself but to detach him from the controversies of his 70 year career. In a world where people are held increasingly more accountable for such viewpoints, is it startling this was the case? The world of fashion is a toxic one, and unfortunately this only perpetuates that some of the figures that rule it seem to be the most harmful of them all.
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