NY Times article - Lagerfeld's new lines

[triniboy27]

As requested, here's the full article:

When the Label Says Lagerfeld

By CATHY HORYN and ERIC WILSON

THERE is no bigger star in fashion today than Karl Lagerfeld. When Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman learned he would be creating a new line with his name on it, they ordered it sight unseen for spring. His first runway show for the collection, on Feb. 10 in New York, has created such anticipation that Apple Computer, which has never before approached a fashion designer to provide content, plans to make a video podcast available that night as a free download on iTunes.

Oprah Winfrey even arranged for Mr. Lagerfeld to squeeze in a trip to Chicago to tape an episode on Wednesday, with 10 models wearing the line.

"All you need to do is put the Lagerfeld name on anything, and people line up at the door," said Sara Albrecht, the owner of Ultimo in Chicago, a pillar of designer fashion in the Midwest. "Normally when I hear about a designer doing a lower-price line, I cringe. But he has such a perception of the consumer and how they wear clothes in reality that it could really work."

Therein lies the intrigue. The protean Mr. Lagerfeld, who already creates eight collections a year for Chanel and Fendi, in addition to pursuing flourishing side careers in photography and book publishing, has relied on others to complete this latest line. How will the emperor's new clothes measure up when Mr. Lagerfeld's involvement, like that of Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs in their lines, is more creative inspiration than hands-on designer?

The clothes, to be shown on the final day of New York Fashion Week, which begins tomorrow, are a collaboration between Mr. Lagerfeld and the sportswear colossus Tommy Hilfiger, who bought Mr. Lagerfeld's brand in December 2004. The clothes — two lines actually, known as Karl Lagerfeld and Lagerfeld Collection, distinguished by their price — are being designed simultaneously by Mr. Lagerfeld in Paris, his home, and by a team in New York, Mr. Hilfiger's headquarters.

Mr. Lagerfeld, who is expected to arrive from Paris on Tuesday, has not yet seen many of the designs that have been made in New York. The designers there, headed by the stylist Melanie Ward, have not seen the clothes Mr. Lagerfeld has designed in Paris. The results, judging by recent visits to both studios, had the appearance of a first-born child of two parents who look nothing alike; you weren't exactly sure what traits you were getting from whom, except for the last name.

Last Friday, three days after his spring haute couture show, Mr. Lagerfeld was in his studio in Paris for fittings. That day he had done a radio program on music with Hélène Arnault, had lunch with Mr. Hilfiger and company executives at his house on the Rue de l'Université and visited with his friend Princess Caroline of Monaco for two hours. That evening he was to be a guest on a French TV show. The night before he had photographed couture from different houses for Numéro magazine until 4 a.m., and the night before that he did another couture shoot for Chinese Vogue with his assistant and muse, Amanda Harlech, also until 4.

Organized chaos is routine chez Lagerfeld, something of a clash with Mr. Hilfiger's more disciplined approach to time management. The clothes designed in New York will bear the label Karl Lagerfeld and are priced at $475 for a dress, $275 for jeans and $155 for a T-shirt. The Paris clothes are called Lagerfeld Collection, and prices are roughly double: $1,100 for a dress, $634 for pants and $235 for a T-shirt. "It's a bit early to say how it will work out," Mr. Lagerfeld said of how he will show the two collections. "Perhaps we'll keep the lines more separate if we don't like the mix."

The long-held industry belief that lower-price collections ultimately dilute a brand's value does not seem to apply to Mr. Lagerfeld. His inexpensive designs for the fast-fashion chain H&M, offered as a one-time collection in 2004, were a litmus test. The skinny jeans and T-shirts sold furiously, an

[6MT]

he is a legend, but he weirds me out, everytime i see his photo, he makes me feel like he molest lil boys or something........

[tangerine]

Quote: ...jeans made of deeply dyed selvage denim from Japan in cuts simultaneously baggy in the crotch and skinny with scrunched legs.

I want to see these... I take it these will be the $600 ones...

ask a cassowary

[triniboy27]

worst case scenario is that they look like those cheap mondays in the superdenim forum...

[Roland]

Has anyone seen the new Karl Lagerfeld in person @ NM or Bergdorf? Just wondering about materials, quality, etc.