Karl Lagerfeld: A Fashion History

An extraordinary biography of Karl Lagerfeld, based upon a series of rare, powerful, and emotional interviews—the real story, full of inside details, that repeatedly surprises and enlightens.

Ottavi enjoyed a rare degree of open and candid access to Lagerfeld in his later years, and this biography offers an unparalleled look into the iconic designer’s complex personality and wide-ranging creativity. Lagerfeld himself wanted this to be a frank, honest, serious account that would be an invaluable resource for fashion lovers and admirers of his incomparable legacy. Unlike other recent books, this intimate portrait deftly reveals his true inner nature in his own words.

Based upon interviews with Lagerfeld over the course of two years prior to his death, this biography is further enriched with memories, stories, and anecdotes from close friends and associates including the Princess of Hanover, Bernard and Hélène Arnault, Silvia Fendi, Bruno Pavlovsky, Tom Ford, Alessandro Michele, Valentino, Carine Roitfeld, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Inès de La Fressange, Linda Evangelista, Tadao Ando, Fran Lebowitz, and others.

Lagerfeld was many things: inspired creator, witty raconteur, media darling, highly cultured, eccentric in his manners, insatiable at work, ultra-sensitive, and given to maintaining grudges. This narrative includes Lagerfeld’s own especially perceptive insights into his relationship with Jacques de Bascher, his only true love, and how Yves Saint Laurent’s later passion for de Bascher resulted in the infamous break in the longstanding friendship between the two couturiers.

Review

"Of course I remember Karl Lagerfeld shopping at colette. He would come every Saturday, late afternoon. He would be curious, generous, and extremely nice with the team and any customer asking for a selfie . . . When Marie published Karl, in 2021, colette and Mr. Lagerfeld were not here anymore. They're just a souvenir. They're from another era. But when you read Marie Ottavi's book, they're alive. And each page, each quote, each story brings to life that very special time." -- SARAH ANDELMAN, cofounder of colette in Paris and founder of Just an Idea, a curating and publishing agency

"Marie Ottavi's Karl presents us with a detailed, original, and passionate account of Karl Lagerfeld's life, personality, and extraordinary achievements. Based on rigorous research and full of new testimonies, this book is an essential contribution to our knowledge and understanding of one of the most central and influential figures of twentieth-century fashion." -- MIREN ARZALLUZ, director of the Palais Galliera, Fashion Museum of Paris

"When I was a young aspiring fashion designer, Karl was one of my heroes. My first introduction to Karl's work was during his tenure at Chloé. Karl's instincts and sense of design were unique and awe-inspiring--it was all fashion, always. Marie's book shares detailed accounts (in short chapters) of Karl's remarkably fascinating and incredible life." -- MARC JACOBS, fashion designer

"Marie Ottavi's biography of Karl Lagerfeld is an important contribution to our understanding of this complicated man. It is as fascinating as her previous biography of Lagerfeld's love object, Jacques de Bascher." -- VALERIE STEELE, fashion historian, curator, and director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York

 

About The Author

Marie Ottavi is a well-known writer for the leading French daily, Libération, specializing in fashion, pop culture, and lifestyles. She is the author of the critically acclaimed biography of Jacques de Bascher published in 2017.