The Best of Karl: Karl Lagerfeld’s most iconic designs throughout the years

Whilst the legendary Karl Lagerfeld has sadly passed on, he will never be forgotten. He has truly left his mark on the fashion industry at a global level with his show-stopping designs and excellent leadership of fashion brands, bringing them to greater heights. Time and time again, he displayed his perceptive and astute fashion sense that showcased he was always ahead of his peers.

A true visionary, Karl has created the most exquisite and memorable pieces. Here, we pay homage to the designer by looking back at his most iconic designs throughout his career.

Photo: Instagram/chanelofficial

ALSO READ: 9 THINGS YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE LATE KARL LAGERFELD

First things first. Chanel’s now globally iconic double interlocking ‘c’ logo was in fact Karl Lagerfeld’s idea. When he took over the powerhouse fashion brand back in 1983 as its artistic director, he created this new logo to modernise the brand.

Whether it was inspired by ‘Coco Chanel’ or by the ‘Chateau de Cremat’ in Nice that Chanel herself often visited, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that Karl created something so simple, so elegant, and so darn effective, it is now undeniable that the logo is the brand.

Photo: Instagram/chanelofficial

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Whether you were a musician or not, you cannot help but admire Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel cc-logo’d guitar with matching case that he sent down his S/S ‘09 Chanel ready-to-wear runway. The guitar itself was completely black with white accents, and the case was white and quilted — the typical Chanel fabric.

Worn over the shoulder where, normally, we’d expect a handbag to be, the Chanel guitar was just a little ‘something’ to show off his out-of-the-box design ideas.

Photo: Instagram/luxuryhandbagsuk

ALSO READ: 9 THINGS YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE LATE KARL LAGERFELD

Karl was always so talented when it came to accessories — he was able to inject energy into the most traditional or tired pieces. Take pearls, for example. A statement item associated with Chanel, the pearl necklace is (or do we say, was prior to Lagerfeld) often thought to be a stuffy choice for the older generation from an era long gone by.

Back in the early noughties, Karl created the multi-layered pearl necklace, which continued throughout the years to be a main feature in his collections. Worn by many celebrities, the double layer pearl necklace also made an appearance in 2006 romcom ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ when Anne Hathaway’s character emerged with a new sense of style.

Photo: Instagram/vuittonglam

ALSO READ: THE FASHION WORLD MOURNS: DESIGNERS, MODELS PAY TRIBUTE TO KARL LAGERFELD

Back in 2013, Karl decided to make a giant handbag out of two hula hoops – because why not? The full sized bag was just for the runway and never made it into production, but a smaller version was then made to be bought, at US$2,400.

The idea behind it was ever practical, as he explained — it was predominantly a beach focus bag. Big enough to hold your essentials including your towel, slides and a change of clothes, along with the hoops to hang your items on too. What a genius.

Photo: Instagram/leahmcqueenphotography

ALSO READ: 9 THINGS YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE LATE KARL LAGERFELD

If you’re the kind of person who assumed Karl was always a lavish ‘no expense spared’ kind of designer, you’d be wrong. Back in 2016 for his spring haute couture collection, he wanted to showcase Chanel’s ode to sustainability.

From the runway set to the ensembles — everything was entirely recyclable. For his handmade designs, he used natural materials that included wood, cork and straw. Of course, all created in the house style of Chanel — visually beautiful, sophisticated and elegant. 

Whilst sustainability in the fashion industry made a mammoth surge last year in 2018, back in 2016 it was still a relatively new concept, particularly for luxury designer labels. Once again, Karl showed us all that he was way ahead of the times.

Photo: YouTube/Chanel

ALSO READ: THE FASHION WORLD MOURNS: DESIGNERS, MODELS PAY TRIBUTE TO KARL LAGERFELD

To end his S/S ‘17 runway show for Chanel, Karl used modern day muse Lily Rose Depp as his finale model, draping her in the most incredible pink gown, created with endless tulle ruffles. The dress was marvelled by all.

Photo: Instagram/lilyrose_depp

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Cara Delevingne has been closely associated with Chanel for many years — she’s a close friend to the designer and a muse to the label. So it came as no shock that the brand designed her very special Met Gala outfit in 2017 — the theme being ‘avant garde, inspired by Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons.

Her silver sci-fi inspired suit had a deep plunging neckline and was embellished everywhere with crystal gems. The final touch was a large silver waist belt. Bold? Yes. Daring? Sure. But of course, Cara looked epic in it.

Photo: Instagram/caradelevingne

ALSO READ: THE FASHION WORLD MOURNS: DESIGNERS, MODELS PAY TRIBUTE TO KARL LAGERFELD

Karl didn’t actually design Fendi’s most iconic handbag — the baguette bag. It was designed by Silvia Venturini herself, many moons ago.

However, since Karl got his hands on the brand, he turned the traditional handbag into an iconic cult fashion piece, reworking every new season with new designs. Once again, he injected his unique sense of vision into something, and it paid off.

Photo: Instagram/fendi

ALSO READ: 9 THINGS YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE LATE KARL LAGERFELD