In case you missed it, this year’s Met Gala is dedicated to the legacy of fashion’s most hyperactive and prolific mastermind, Karl Lagerfeld, a designer who put even the most adroit multitaskers to shame and whose uniform (staunchly starched collars, ponytail) became the stuff of legend.
With “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s Wendy Yu curator in charge, and longtime Lagerfeld collaborator Amanda Harlech, the exhibition’s creative consultant, have the tall order of synthesizing the designer’s career into about 150 looks. But thankfully, at this year’s Met Gala, paying tribute to Mr. Lagerfeld is not a task solely for the curators, as the 2023 dress code is “in honor of Karl.”
Next on Lagerfeld’s résumé—which reads more like a textbook of 20th- and 21st-century fashion history than it does the work of a single individual—comes Chanel. From 1982 until his death in 2019, Lagerfeld’s care of Chanel vividly colored his legacy, albeit in the achromatic hues of black and white. Archival Chanel couture and ready-to-wear are sure to win applause from red-carpet watchers: Who could forget Lily-Rose Depp’s Chanel couture dress dripping with gold chains (a look originally worn down the runway by Christy Turlington in 1992), or Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s subtly coordinating black leather coatdresses by Chanel, for “Camp: Notes on Fashion” in 2019?
It goes without saying that those vying for modern-day Chanel and Fendi pieces will not disappoint. And the remaining guests, who will nod to either Lagerfeld’s contributions to fashion or his own uniform, have a lot to play with. No matter which way guests go, the assignment is clear: Let’s do him proud!
This post was originally published in British
