How Karl Lagerfeld Grew to Love Hollywood Over The Years

FameJuly 3, 2019

Lagerfeld’s Resilience

When Karl Lagerfeld produced the first collection for Chanel, it was a flop. According to the description contained in some reports, there were some of the clothes that still had hanging threads.

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Lagerfeld’s first Chanel collection was nowhere near perfect

However, Lagerfeld didn’t allow the setback to deter him, and he went ahead to handle the affairs of the House of Chanel in a focused manner. Just as other rivals like Gianni Versace, Valentino, and Giorgio Armani were dominating red carpets, Lagerfeld stayed disdainful.

Since 1965, there wasn’t a record of any attendee wearing Chanel. However, for the Oscars in 1993, Marisa Tomei wore a white and black Chanel dress, and it was the event where she won the award of the best-supporting actress for her role in My Cousin Vinny.

Initial Indifference Towards Hollywood

Through the course of his reign in the fashion industry that has spanned over four decades, Lagerfeld hasn’t really been enchanted by Tinseltown. In 2017, he had a clash with the actress, Meryl Streep after she chose to wear Elie Saab and not Chanel.

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Lagerfeld initially preferred to work only with supermodels and not pop stars

He also criticized Hubert de Givenchy whom he said was unable to recover from Audrey Hepburn. Lagerfeld has a very awesome collection of residences, and that includes a clifftop villa built that overlooks Monte Carlo. Lagerfeld had a preference for being around aristocrats as against actors. He has, however, always had a longtime obsession with supermodels whose importance he ranked above that of pop stars and movie.

Developing Love For Hollywood

There was a shift in Lagerfeld’s relationship with Hollywood when he handled the photography session of Nicole Kidman for a magazine and that marked the beginning of their professional relationship. Sometime in 2004, after about eighteen months of rigorous negotiations between CAA and Chanel, Kidman was selected as the face of Chanel No. 5.

Also, the artistic director of Chanel chose Baz Luhrmann as the director of Nicole Kidman in Chanel No. 5 The Film. Even though the film was barely 180 seconds, it had a feature style budget of $42 million.

According to Peter Hess who served as the deal’s broker, CAA had all the big actresses like Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, and Cate Blanchett and none of the actresses had any brand relationship. Thus, the deal with Kidman marked the beginning of strong collaborations.

Lagerfeld’s Established Love For Hollywood

The professional relationship between Lagerfeld and Kidman helped Lagerfeld develop a soft spot for Hollywood. Before his death, he already had a professional relationship with Margot Robbie, Lily-Rose Depp, and Pharrell Williams.

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Lagerfeld had a thriving professional relationship with stars such as Margot Robbie and Pharrell Williams

After Julianne Moore got an Oscar nomination for best actress in 2015 for her role in Still Alice, he reportedly spent several hours making her strapless piece with its several sequins that were hand applied. After she won the award, Lagerfeld expressed his happiness about her win describing her as the ideal illustration of his personal idea of womanhood.