Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
The name Fendi had been around for decades when a young German designer named Karl Lagerfeld took the creative helm at the company in 1965. But it was not until then, however, that the Italian brand became a world-renowned fashion house. In fact, Lagerfeld, who produced four to five collections yearly for the label — and is celebrated for the shoes, purses and other pieces he created for Fendi — is credited with creating the company’s instantly recognizable double-F logo (which stands for “Fun Furs”) in “less than five seconds.” Until Lagerfeld started designing for the brand, fur was a material mostly associated with heavy coats that few people actually wore. The designer reimagined fur in creative ways, using it as an accent on purses, cuffs on dress sleeves and collars on wool coats.
More than a mere tastemaker, Karl Lagerfeld devoted himself to the continual pursuit of chic. “My life and my job,” the designer once said, “is to forget myself.” During his five-decade career as a designer for Chanel, Fendi, Chloé and many others, Karl Lagerfeld was a quintessential chameleon, ever evolving to embody the times. An outsize, instantly recognizable personality — his ponytail powdered like an 18th-century viscount, his eyes perpetually shielded by dark glasses, wearing fistfuls of chunky silver jewels — Lagerfeld was, above all, an avatar of style.
Born in Hamburg (in 1933, ’35, or ’38 by varying accounts), Karl Lagerfeld packed his bags for Paris in 1954. His design for a coat won him the International Wool Secretariat and landed him a job with the celebrated couturier Pierre Balmain. He went on to become the designer of Jean Patou, eventually realizing that his seemingly endless ideas could fuel a career as a designer-for-hire. As such, Lagerfeld lent his vision to everyone from Loewe and Max Mara to Krizia and Charles Jourdan, nimbly moving among a diverse range of styles. It was an unprecedented way of working in the days when freelance was still a dirty word.
In the mid-1960s, Lagerfeld joined forces with the Fendi family, taking it from sleepy furrier to fashion’s haute-est stratum. In 1983, he was handed the reins at Chanel, which had been gathering dust since its founder’s heyday. His collections for the brand displayed his knack for synthesizing old and new, high and low, and he used each season’s inspiration to conceive Chanel’s signatures anew. Lagerfeld created eight collections a year for Chanel and designed more than 100 collections for Fendi over the course of more than fifty years. Despite this pace, he never faltered in proposing new ideas each time he put pencil to paper.
Find vintage Karl Lagerfeld Fendi clothing on 1stDibs.
Early 2000s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
Early 2000s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
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1990s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
1990s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
1990s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
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1990s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
1990s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
1990s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
Early 2000s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
1990s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
1990s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
1990s Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
Early 2000s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
Early 2000s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
Early 2000s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
Early 2000s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
1990s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
Early 2000s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
1980s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
2010s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
1990s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
Early 2000s Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
1990s Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi Clothing
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Designers Similar to Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Karl Lagerfeld started designing for Fendi in 1967 when the brand brought him on to modernize their fur collection. He remained at the luxury fashion house until his death on February 19, 2019. On 1stDibs, shop a selection of Fendi apparel and accessories.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Karl Lagerfeld designed for Fendi for 52 years. He joined the company in 1967. His original assignment was just to update the brand's fur collection, but his work with the brand went far beyond that initial task. Find a collection of Fendi on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertFebruary 1, 2024Karl Lagerfeld was with Chanel from 1982 until his death in 2019. During that time, he served as the creative director for the iconic French fashion house. In 1984, he also launched his own eponymous clothing line, Karl Lagerfeld. Explore a large collection of Chanel apparel and accessories from some of the world's top boutiques on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMay 5, 2023Before Karl Lagerfeld, Coco Chanel designed for the fashion house she founded in Paris in 1910. After her death in 1971, Chanel focused primarily on selling fragrances and cosmetics, but this changed after Lagerfeld joined the house in 1984. Vintage Karl Lagerfeld designs for Chanel handbags, evening dresses, coats, jewelry and other clothing and accessories riffed on its iconography, accenting a lexicon of Chanel-isms with tastes of the moment. Shop a collection of Chanel bags, clothing and accessories on 1stDibs.
- Is Karl Lagerfeld made in China?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertFebruary 1, 2024Whether Karl Lagerfeld pieces are made in China varies. Some items produced by the brand do come from factories located in China. However, Karl Lagerfeld also works with manufacturers in Albania, India, Italy, Macedonia, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Turkey. On 1stDibs, explore a collection of Karl Lagerfeld apparel and accessories from some of the world's top boutiques.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 15, 2024Yes, Karl Lagerfeld Paris is a good brand. Specializing in affordable, well-made apparel and accessories for a hip, youthful demographic, Karl Lagerfeld Paris is a diffusion line of the French luxury fashion brand known as Karl Lagerfeld. During his five-decade career designing shoes, handbags, evening dresses and other items for Chanel, Fendi, Chloé and many others, the German-born Lagerfeld was a quintessential chameleon, ever evolving to embody the times. Shop a diverse assortment of Karl Lagerfeld apparel and accessories on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertFebruary 13, 2023Karl Lagerfeld's last collection for Chanel was the Fall 2019 collection. The show took place on March 5, 2019, at the Grand Palais in Paris. Shop a selection of Chanel pieces from some of the world’s top boutiques on 1stDibs.