Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe 1981 Custard Silk Ruffled Dress

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.” When Gaby Aghion started Chloé in the 1950s, it set a new precedent for stylish, high-quality French fashion that was not made-to-order. Chloé continued to thrive during the next decade, particularly with the appointment of great designers such as Lagerfeld, who refashioned the brand — his distinctive vintage evening dresses, suits and other garments for Chloé reflect the free spirit of the late ’60s and ’70s.

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.

Beginning in 1965, joined forces with the Fendi family, taking it from sleepy furrier to fashion’s haute-est stratum. The designer freelanced at Chloé alongside the likes of Gérard Pipart, Maxime de la Falaise and others before he was named staff creative lead in 1974. Lagerfeld stayed with Chloé until 1983, during which time he became known for his romantic silk dresses that continued Aghion’s feminine vision and were a favorite of the “rich hippie” set.

Because of his track record for reviving and reimagining brands that had grown stagnant, in 1984 Lagerfeld was handed the reins at Chanel, which had been gathering dust since its founder’s heyday. Lagerfeld’s collections for the brand displayed his knack for synthesizing old and new, high and low. He used each season’s inspiration to conceive Chanel’s signatures anew. And 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.

Find vintage Karl Lagerfeld Chloé day dresses, coats and other clothing on 1stDibs.