A Line of Beauty
The Costume Institute annual exhibition focused on the storied career of the late polymath, Karl Lagerfeld and the evolution of his fashion for Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty. Curated by Wendy Yu Curator in Charge, Andrew Bolton the spring exhibition reveals Lagerfeld’s design legacy at Chanel, Fendi, Chloe, Patou, and his own eponymous line. Alongside original sketches is some of his earliest work, including being awarded the International Woolmark Prize in 1954 and his ensuing roles as a design assistant at Balmain. The more than 200 objects explore contrasting themes of feminine and masculine, romantic and military, rococo and classical, historical and futuristic, ornamental and structural, canonical and countercultural, artisanal and mechanical, floral and geometric, and figurative and abstract. His razor sharp wit was captured in never-before-seen archival footage of Lagerfeld shot by Loic Prigent that reverberated across 81 iPhones. Personal touches greet audiences as one of his famously cluttered four desks that he sketched ideas, planned shoots, and carried fashion and art reference books. His extensive achievements spanned art, film, music, design, fashion, literature, and even philosophy with his colloquialisms etched throughout the Tadao Ando designed exhibition space. The world-renowned architect first met Lagerfeld in 1996, when the late designer commissioned Ando to create a design studio in Biarritz, France. The exhibition at The Met opens to the viewing public on Friday, May 5th.