The New York Timesreports that Karl Lagerfeld will be collaborating with Tod's Diego Della Valle for a collection for Tod's Hogan brand.
Mr. Lagerfeld, 76, described Hogan as a "contemporary brand" and said in a statement that he liked "the idea of collaborating" with Diego Della Valle, the founder, president and chief executive of Tod's.
Mr. Della Valle is looking to globalize the reach of Hogan, founded in 1988. It has been developed by his son Emanuele as a creative and inventive provider of technosport and urban footwear and leather goods.
Not much is known about the future collection other than that it will include clothing, shoes and accessories and will debut in spring 2011. It will likely be a one-time only collaboration.
Karl Lagerfeld put on an absolutely amazing show in Paris of the Chanel 2010 fall ready to wear collection. The environmental theme was epitomized by the giant, 265-ton iceberg in the middle of the catwalk. Karl had trucked in a huge amount of snow-ice (called "snice") which had been chiseled out of a glacier. It took 15 tractor-trailers to get it to Paris, where it was stored in a specially created waterproof box. Then 35 ice sculptors went to work and created the 28 foot tall "iceberg," which was set into a shallow pool of water which the models walked through, dragging their pants legs and coats behind them. The temperature in the room was literally arctic, to keep the berg intact and to make the models grateful for their fabulous faux fur pants, jackets and hats.
Yes, that's right. Karl used all fake fur for this show and it was just fabulous. He said faux fur has really changed over the years and it's now really great to work with. Karl had these words of wisdom to impart: "You cannot fake chic, but you can be chic in fake fur." The show was filled with fabulous knits, must-have boots that looked like spats, gorgeous coats and luxurious tweeds. It was a showstopper. Here Hilary Alexander of The Telegraph talks to
Karl about his "Global Cooling" show.
Vanessa Paradis is the Face of New Coco Cocoon Campaign
French singer, model and actress Vanessa Paradis will be the face of a new campaign for Chanel's Coco Cocoon line. Karl Lagerfeld has photographed Vanessa for the leather goods line, which will feature several new designs this spring. Chanel says campaign will "feature images that highlight the actress' style, characterized by her blend of subtle audaciousness and fragility."
Vanessa Paradis and Karl Lagerfeld first worked together in 2004 on the Cambon leather goods ad campaign. They have worked together on several campaigns since then. The new ad campaign will be unveiled in May, 2010.
Karl Lagerfeld Photographs Claudia Schiffer For Dom Perignon
Claudia Schiffer is the face of a new campaign for Dom Perignon. Fashion Week Daily reports that Dom Perignon is entering the bridal market with a special set called Dom Perignon Wedding. The set includes 12 bottles of Dom Perignon Vintage 2000, plus a 13th bottle that will be personalized with the bride and groom's name and wedding date. The campaign was shot by Karl Lagerfeld. You can watch a video of the campaign here.
The Fendi fall 2010 ready to wear collection was a mixture of the fabulous and the truly awful. On the fabulous end was a parade of some of the most gorgeous black cocktail and day dresses we've seen in a long time. Paired with sophisticated navy accents and shoes, the dresses also had fabulous black swing coats. (The section of black clothing starts at around the 5:39 mark)
On the truly awful end was Karl Lagerfeld's collection of patchwork (real) fur coats. They were truly hideous. The separates were a 1940's/1970s/1980s hybrid with lots of unflattering dirndl and circle skirts, layered with belts and sweaters. It would be difficult to find a more unflattering skirt shape than the dirndl. It's guaranteed to add twenty pounds to your hips in an instant. The trapeze shape and the A-line dominated.
Here's the entire collection: this video is without sound.
Karl Lagerfeld Designs World's Most Expensive Safe
Karl Lagerfeld has designed the world's most expensive safe. The safe will retail for over $339,000 and only 30 of them will be created. Karl will receive the first one, of course. The safe has been named Narcissus, appropriately enough. WWD reports:
Just under six-feet tall and less than a foot deep, the steel body, sheathed in high-gloss chrome-plated aluminum, looks like an impregnable monolith. But when activated by the owner, two doors butterfly open to reveal interior cabinets containing watch winders and jewelry drawers.
German luxury safe maker Dottling will be creating the limited edition Narcissus safe, which is sure to be a hot seller with billionaires who don't mind advertising to thieves all over the world what kind of safe they have.
Hilary Alexander of The Telegraph went backstage and then to the front row before the Spring 2010 Haute Couture Chanel show in Paris. She chatted with Karl Lagerfeld about his inspiration for the collection, with Anna Wintour about how retail is doing, with Alexa Chung about her clogs (horribly uncomfortable from all accounts) and with Amber Rose and Kanye West. Amber was wearing a full length knit Chanel gown which featured a hood. But enough about that. (In fact, we hope we never see or hear of such a thing again in this century.)
The show's inspiration was "neon baroque" but the color palette was muted, with lots of silver, white, cream and palest pink. There was no gold whatsoever in the collection, not even in the buttons. The models wore teased high hair straight out of the court of Marie Antoinette, with the addition of grey streaks and fabric embellishments. The models wore Rougee Allure Lipstick in Genial, which will be available in the Chanel Summer 2010 makeup collection and Le Vernis Nail Colour in Silver. We love silver, but we think Karl got a little carried away by the end of the show with the groom wearing a silver lame suit. Take a look:
Karl Lagerfeld has created a short film called "Vol du Jour." The film starring Lara Stone and Baptiste Giabicon is about a pair of serial Chanel shoplifters. They also have a third partner who drives off with the Chanel merchandise in a getaway vehicle. Take a look:
Karl Lagerfeld Designs Princess Doll and Little Girl's Princess Dress
WWDreports that designer Karl Lagerfeld created this doll to support the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Foundation. The princess doll and a gorgeous silk, tulle and lace princess dress also designed by Lagerfeld will be sold at Au Nain Bleu, a high-end toy store in Paris, France. You can find Au Nain Bleu's website here.
Now this is one of the most entertaining things we've seen all week. Karl Lagerfeld reimagined SpongeBob SquarePants in his own image to be auctioned off for the World Wildife Fund. SpongeBob KarlPants, as we now think of him, is gold, and nattily attired in black fingerless gloves a stiff white collar, dark sunglasses and black leather boots. The figuring was auctioned off for a mere $1500 at a Paris fundraiser for WWF. The event raised around $11,000 with items donated by Ines de la Fressange and French singer Patrick Bruel.
Isn't SpongeBob KarlPants adorable? You just know he wants to say something really mean to the other cartoon characters who aren't as well dressed.
In a new interview with the German magazine Freundin Karl Lagerfeld dismisses the idea that he is ready to retire from Chanel anytime soon. According to Handbag.com Karl isn't going anywhere. As for his weight, Karl says that elastic waists are the enemy of thinness.
The 76-year-old designer has swatted away persistent rumours that he is set to stand down from his position as the helm of Chanel, insisting, "The world can count on me for a long time."
"Retirement is not one of the topics with which I deal. Why should I?" he says. "I still have so many projects that I sometimes don't know where to begin. Chanel will still need some clothes when I'm 89."
*****
Lagerfeld, who famously shed 42kg in order to fit into the slim silhouette championed by Hedi Slimane at Dior Homme, counters that he's fighting fit. His secret to maintaining a healthy diet? Step away from the jogging pants.
"Those things are dangerous because they have an elastic band," he told Freundin, a glossy based in his native Germany. "It stretches and then you don't know when you put on weight. I hate it when you let yourself go! I'm always looking the way you see me now."
Karl designs for Chanel, his own label and for Fendi. He also is a photographer and runs his own publishing house. It has been rumored that Alber Elbaz of Lanvin will take over at Chanel when Karl steps down, but Elbaz has dismissed those rumors.
Video: Katy Perry Makes Play to Steal Karl Lagerfeld Away From Lily Allen
Katy Perry has just upped the ante in the ongoing war between her and Lily Allen. The two singers absolutely loathe each other ever since Katy described her self in an interview as "thinner than Lily Allen, fatter than Amy Winehouse." Lily fired back by mocking Katy for not writing her own songs.
The feud picked up again when Lily (who is starring in ads for Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel) performed at the Paris Chanel Spring/Summer 2010 show. Lily refused to perform if she could see Katy Perry in the audience. The Chanel people did not want to offend Katy Perry and so seated her somewhere that Lily couldn't see her (some said she was banned, but Katy said she saw the show). Given that background, this video of Katy Perry interviewing Karl Lagerfeld for Elle magazine is absolutely jam-packed with drama (and unintentional hilarity).
Karl had never met Katy before but was happy to chat with her. During the chat she asked him what song describes him most and he (clearly having no idea of the ongoing feud) answered that it's the Lily Allen song "It's Not Me, It's You." "Of course" replies Katy through clenched teeth. She then went on to says she'd love to wear the dress with leather ornamentation that looks like metal to the EMAs (European Movie Awards) -- if that was possible. He replied that it was more than possible. She said she'd have to live on lattes and tic-tacs to fit into it, to which Karl pooh-poohed her and said she couldn't possibly be more than a size 2! Lily Allen will be absolutely livid when she hears about this.
Will Katy Perry manage to steal Karl's affections from Lily Allen? Take a look:
Karl Lagerfeld took the Chanel label back to the country for the Spring/Summer 2010 show in Paris. Karl's inspiration was the fact that not that long ago, France was mostly inhabited by peasants. But this is Chanel, of course, so the inspiration leaned more towards Marie Antoinette playing at being a shepherdess at the Petit Trianon at Versailles. Prince, Rihanna and Claudia Schiffer all attended.
The setting was a giant Chanel barn; the models arrived out of a giant hay bale. There were milkmaid and shepherdess inspired ensembles, but also some classic suits. Karl is all about the clog for spring, so there were lots of those. At the end of the show, two models and an actor rolled around in the hay, as Lily Allen emerged from the floor surrounded by models wearing Karl's creations. Lily sang "Not Fair" which is the second single from her album,
It's Not Me, It's You. Take a look:
Hilary Alexander of The Telegraph talked backstage to Karl Lagerfeld about his inspiration for the show, and we get a better look at some of the clothes. Karl says that even when he goes to the country, his look never changes. If it is colder, he dresses a bit warmer, but that's it. Take a look:
We're not really used to seeing a kinder, gentler Karl Lagerfeld. But that is the Karl that Milan saw when he sent his feminine, light, romantic collection for Fendi down the runway. The models all wore six inch heels that featured lucite platforms and ribbon ties. The girls could barely walk, so that gave the audience more time to look at each piece. The palette was mostly pastels, with gauzy, billowing skirts, shirts and dresses and an occasional pop of color. Karl called it the "soutien gorgeous" look, making up a new term which is a play on the French term for brassiere, soutien gorge. There were quite a few peek-a-boo bras in the collection, which means that the lingerie look is back. The black and white pieces were especially pretty.
The frayed end trend -- which also showed up at Prada -- was in full evidence. Karl explained the unfinished, raw edges thusly: "It's about new clothes, but taken apart again." It's sheer nonsense, of course, but that's Karl. Sometimes we wonder if he pushes things far enough just to see what he can by with. He does have a wicked sense of humor and can sell anything to anyone, as he has admitted in past interviews. Ripped, shredded and frayed will be a definite, yet mercifully short-lived, trend next spring. Take a look:
Karl Lagerfeld has already been a teddy bear and has appeared in the hit video game Grand Theft Auto. Now he is a doll. WWD reports that Karl is now a Japanese-inspired vinyl collectible doll that stands ten inches high. The collectibles are made by Italian firm Tokidoki, which was founded by artist Simone Legno.
Mini Karl comes decked out in a skinny black suit, rhinestone-studded tie and belt, and don't-mess-with-me sunglasses - all from his K Karl Lagerfeld Collection. Tokidoki, created in 2005 by artist Simone Legno, will create only 1,000 figurines. Priced at 129 euros, or about $190 at current exchange, they will be distributed at Tokidoki flagships in New York, Milan and Los Angeles and select specialty stores for holiday retailing, with Colette getting the exclusive launch next month. Mini Karl will also appear on T-shirts in next spring's K collection.
