"Changes in fashion come from change in movement, in attitude." Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld was born in 1933 in Hamburg, Germany. He emigrated to Paris in 1953, and in 1955 won a coat competition sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat.
Lagerfeld was hired by the house of Pierre Balmain (Balmain had been one of the judges), where he worked for 3 years. Lagerfeld then became chief designer for the house of Jean Patou and briefly designed freelance for Krizia, Ballantyne, and Charles Jourdan before becoming a designer for Chloe in 1963.
He left Chloe in 1982 to become the head designer for the house of Chanel, where he revitalized the label and where he remains to this day.
"Chanel is an existing style and my job is to put that into today's life. So it's me and it's not me. I'm using." Karl Lagerfeld
Lagerfeld also has designed for twenty-five years for his own label and for over 40 years for Fendi (for whom he still creates furs), making him the most prolific high fashion designer. He even designed again for 5 years for Chloe during the 1990s.
He may be the most recognized designer in the world, due to his ponytail, dark glasses, and omnipresent fan.
Lagerfeld is a Renaissance man in the fashion industry, having been also an author and publisher, German television talk show host, fine art and commercial photographer, and music producer - and after his dramatic weight loss, diet guru.
Lagerfeld received the Neiman Marcus Award in 1980 and the Council of Fashion Designers of America award in 1991.
Lagerfeld's style mixes pop culture and grand historical styles. For Chanel, he has often adopted more traditional styles, continuing many of Coco Chanel's motifs with new innovations, but for his own labels, he has often been among the most avant-garde designers.