If you’ve fostered any sense of fashion radar, it’s likely blaring right about now. You know better than to confuse any unfamiliar jitters or sleepless eves for seasonal allergies—the Met Gala, one of fashion’s biggest events, is just a whisper around the corner, taking place on the first Monday in May. This year, The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute has departed from showcasing American fashion and decreed “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” as the 2023 Met Gala theme.
As anointed guests curate their masterpiece looks with the help of in-demand designers, those who are relegated to soak in fashion’s mightiest moments from the couch (albeit in comfier attire) can indulge in their own world of Karl simply by cracking open a few books. Having spent time at Fendi, Chanel, and his eponymous line—among others—there’s plenty of written material to work with. And, steeped in a hefty amount of controversy, readers may leapfrog underlying fashion FOMO accrued by missing the gala by unearthing past treasures and travesties of the storied savant. Check out the below books to familiarize yourself with some of the designer’s most iconic collections and looks, while learning his origin story and where his influence will most likely be felt well into the future.
It could be argued that, without a spicy competitor, some of the greatest names in history might have fallen to footnote status. Such was the case with Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld. Drake’s extensive and thorough exposé maps the course of the rivalry between the rising stars during the 1970s, while illuminating the designers’ early years, which informed not only their incessant drive, but their aesthetics. This book reaches beyond the gossip (though there’s some in there, too) and humanizes the luminaries by detailing the struggles each endured to cement their places as two of fashion’s most influential designers to date.
Karl Lagerfeld around 1960, when he worked as…
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