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 designing shoes, handbags, evening dresses and other items for Chanel, Fendi, Chloé and many others, 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.
During the late ’60s and ’70s, he refashioned Chloé to reflect the free spirit of the day and, beginning in 1965, joined forces with the Fendi family, taking it from sleepy furrier to fashion’s haute-est stratum. Because of his track record for reviving and reimagining brands that had grown stagnant, in 1983 Lagerfeld was handed the reins at Chanel, which had been gathering dust since its founder’s heyday.
From Lagerfeld's first Chanel collection, he injected the venerable house with a frisson of modernity. He riffed on its iconography — tweed skirt suits, pearls, camellias — accenting a lexicon of Chanel-isms with tastes of the moment. Despite producing eight collections a year for Chanel, as well as four to five for Fendi, Lagerfeld never faltered in proposing new ideas each time he put pencil to paper.
Lagerfeld’s collections for Chanel, in particular, displayed his knack for synthesizing old and new, high and low. From Watteau (Spring/Summer 1985 couture) and Serge Roche (Spring/Summer 1990 ready-to-wear) to hip-hop fly girls (Fall/Winter 1991 ready-to-wear), surfers (Spring/Summer 2003 ready-to-wear) and ancient Egypt (Pre-Fall 2019), Lagerfeld used each season’s inspiration to conceive Chanel’s signatures anew.
Browse a collection of sophisticated designs by Karl Lagerfeld on 1stDibs, including handbags and evening gowns for Chanel, vintage cocktail dresses for Chloé and more.
Vintage Rare 1990s Chanel Baroque Pearl Necklace
By Christian Dior, Chanel, Thierry Mugler, Karl Lagerfeld, Paloma Picasso
Located in San Diego, CA
Incredibly chic necklace from the Autumn-Winter 1996 Chanel collection. This beautiful goldtone chain with six faux baroque pearls in white and grey is simply irresistible. This nec...
Metal
$4,445
H 76.5 in W 14 in D 13 in
Rare Arts & Crafts Standing Floor Crucifix w Stylized Bronze Sculpture of Christ
Located in Lisse, NL
Rare Gothic revival church crucifix and a wonderful hand crafted work of religious art. Made and marked by Brom, Utrecht (see image 17). Brom of Utrecht was a family (or dynasty) of...
Brass, Bronze
1990s Modern Sculpture
Located in Milano, IT
1990s modern sculpture, realized with different metals such as iron copper and brass.
Brass, Copper, Iron
$54,006 / set
H 15.56 in W 5.32 in D 4.34 in
Pair of Rare Important Statues Signed Faberge 1912 Russian Kamer Kazak Bodyguard
By Fabergé
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
We are delighted to offer for sale this stunning, very rare and highly collectible pair of Faberge signed cast and cold painted bronze statues of A.A. Kudinov and N.N. Pustynnikov, personal Kamer-Kazak bodyguards of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna A little history, the original sold at auction in 2013 for $5,200,000, I’ll include further information below which came from Sotheby’s These expertly made statues are as mentioned of A.A. Kudinov and N.N. Pustynnikov in dress parade uniforms with badges and medals, the coats trimmed with Imperial eagles, the cockaded fleece hats with gold braid, inscribed in Russian on the heels and soles of the boots 'Kamer-Kazak since 1894/A.A. Kudinov/Fabergé/1912' History The precise origin of these figures, which appear to be copies of – or models for – the well-known Fabergé hardstone...
Bronze
$1,687
H 2.96 in W 0.99 in D 0.4 in
RARE SUITE OF ORIGINAL NATURAL HiSTORY MUSEUM CASED IN PERSPEX SPECIMENS
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
Royal House Antiques Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for this amazing suite of original natural history museum cased specimens A very rare find, these are old examples and some very interesting pieces, the list is as follows 1:- POM 17615 PINGUICULA 2:- POM 17600 VENUS FLYTRAP...
Plastic
Rare Hi-Lo Collapsible Modernist Bicycle by Cleveland Company MDT
Located in Buffalo, NY
Rare Hi-Lo Collapsible modernist streamline bicycle by Cleveland Company,, M D T,, Amazing design and condition, bike comes apart for easy compact transport and storage, Retains all ...
Steel, Chrome
$115,600
H 21 in W 11 in D 4 in
Rare and Important Italian Alabaster Bust Sculpture of Jesus Christ, C. 1860
Located in Long Island City, NY, NY
A rare and important Italian alabaster bust sculpture of Jesus Christ, C. 1860 A modeled bust of Holy Christ wearing a crown of thorns, excep...
Alabaster
Organic Beaded Necklace on Stand, Sold Singly
Located in Sheffield, MA
The organic necklaces are treated as works of art or sculpture displayed on their black metal stands. The top parts are intricately braided twine attached to which are sliced sea she...
Shell
$11,200Sale Price|20% Off
H 16 in W 4.25 in D 3.5 in
12th Century Rare Romanesque Wood Sculpture of the Virgin Mary
Located in Vero Beach, FL
12th century extremely rare romanesque wood sculpture of the Virgin Mary. Magnificent wood hand carved sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding a book to her chest. It is an extremely rare survivor of the 12th century. The style is European, possibly French or English. This statue is a testimony to beautiful religious art from about 1150. A truly rare Romanesque sculpture...
Stone
$124,900
H 40 in W 15 in D 12 in
A Rare and Important American Marble Sculpture of Thomas Jefferson, Circa 1870
Located in Long Island City, NY, NY
A Rare and Important American White Marble Sculpture of Thomas Jefferson Holding The Declaration of Independence. Circa 1870, in the Manner of Horatio Stone (1808 –1875). Inscribed on scroll: 'The Declaration of Independence, It becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another. etc. etc. T. Jefferson. The present work is unsigned but is reminiscent of Horatio Stone's life-size marble figure of John Hancock...
Marble
$49,000 / set
H 72 in W 35 in D 15 in
Exstremely Rare Collection Alcoa Aluminum String Instruments, Bass, Cello, Violin
By Alcoa Aluminum
Located in Buffalo, NY
This set took me over 20 years to procure.....Dont miss this opportunity!!!!Being offered extremely rare collection of aluminum string instruments,,string bass, ,cello,,and violin....... circa 1930s, all 3 instruments originaly wood grain painted, have been stripped and polished.. re-strung and set up, new bridge and custom (alcoa) tail piece, original ebony fret board, All play and Sound amazing. If purchasing to play, wonderful decorative sculpture, Pfretzschner aluminum bass In 1928, The Aluminum Company of America manufactured 50 aluminum double basses...
Aluminum, Brass
$29,816
H 25.6 in W 55.12 in D 19.69 in
An extremely rare antique taxidermy Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)
Located in Amsterdam, NL
An extremely rare antique taxidermy Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) 1st half 20th century The marvellous creature in very good condition and o...
Animal Skin
17th Century Spanish Baroque Chestnut Carving of Christ
Located in Stamford, CT
A large-scale 17th century Spanish carving of Christ on the cross. Possibly of a much earlier date, the features and posture owing much to Byzantine depictions of Christ, especially ...
Chestnut