A collection of hand-drawn sketches by the iconic fashiondesigner Karl Lagerfeld is up for auction in Miami later this month.
The rare sketches were created by Lagerfeld in the early 1960sfor the Italian fashion house Tiziani, where he began his career as a freelancedesigner.
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Originating directly from the company’s archives, the sketchbooks and drawings will cross the block at Urban Culture Auctions, in association with Palm Beach Modern Auctions, in Florida on April 16.
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- Karl Otto Lagerfeld was a German creative director, fashion designer, artist, photographer, and caricaturist who lived in Paris. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 until his death, and was also creative director of the Italian fur and leather goods fashion house Fendi, and of his own eponymous fashion label. He collaborated on a variety of fashion and art-related projects.
In total, 125 original drawings and sketchbooks will beoffered for sale, with estimates ranging from $500 up to $4,000.
However, following Lagerfeld’s recent passing in February 2019,renewed interest in his legacy could see them achieve even higher prices.
With a career spanning six decades, Karl Lagerfeld was oneof the fashion world’s most famous and influential designers.
He served as the creative director for Chanel for over 35 years, and worked with Fendi for more than 50 years, as well as establishing his own long-running brand in 1984.
But back in 1963 Lagerfeld was just another young freelancedesigner in Rome, seeking to establish himself in the world of couture.
When American designer Evans Richards founded the fashion house Tiziani in 1963, he hired Lagerfeld to work closely alongside him, and he soon proved a hit with the company’s celebrity clients including Elizabeth Taylor, Gina Lollobrigida, and Principessa Borghese.
Lagerfeld went on to make a name for himself with brandssuch as Charles Jourdan, Chloé, Krizia, and Valentino, before beginning arelationship with Fendi in 1967 which would last until the end of his life.
His original designs remained tucked away in the Tizianiarchives, where they were saved for posterity by a series of owners over thedecades.
Lagerfeld himself was renowned for discarding his sketches,and in a 2007 interview with The New Yorker, he claimed:
Karl Lagerfeld Sketches Chanel
“I throw everything away! The most important piece offurniture in a house is the garbage can! I keep no archives of my own, nosketches, no photos, no clothes — nothing! I am supposed to do, I’m notsupposed to remember!”
Karl Lagerfeld Sketches His Life Documentary
Palm Beach Modern Auctions first offered a collection ofLagerfeld’s sketches from the Tiziani archives in 2014, in a sale whichattracted global attention.
Karl Lagerfeld Outlet
Prior to the initial sale, auctioneer Rico Baca told theHuffington Post “It was not meant to be art, but as 50 years have gone by,it has become art because it was done by Lagerfeld.”
Following the legendary design’s death, this secondselection of rare designs and sketches looks set to take on added significance –and perhaps some added value as well.
Artist: Karl Lagerfeld
Title: Original Drawing T-754
Medium: Mixed Media, ink pen on paper with fabric
Size: Paper size 15 ½” x 11 ¾”
Edition: Original
Year: Circa 1963-1969
Condition: Very good condition overall for its age; please request condition report for full details
Documentation: Letter of provenance from original owner; gallery certificate of authenticity
Karl Lagerfeld is one of the most renowned fashion designers in the world. Though recognized for his innovative and bold approach to fashion, he was also a talented illustrator. Original Drawing T-754 consists of designs for a fur-lined coat and an elegant sheer dress. The detailed sketches display Lagerfeld’s quick wit for visualizing an entire ensemble. The designer often attached swatches of fabrics to his fashion drawings to specify the colors for his designs.
Original Drawing T-754 is one of Lagerfeld’s rare fashion drawings part of the Tiziani Archives. In 1963, Lagerfeld worked alongside American designer Evans Richards in the Tiziani fashion house where he remained until 1969. During this time Richards saved some of Lagerfeld’s sketches as the designer often disposed of them. Although the piece is not individually signed, the sketch comes with a letter of provenance from the original owner and a gallery certificate of authenticity.
The drawing is in very good condition overall for its age. Please request a condition report for full details. Though unframed, framing for Original Drawing T-754 is offered for an additional cost.
About Karl Lagerfeld: Karl Lagerfeld is one of the best-known fashion designers in the world. Highly regarded for his bold designs and constant reinvention, Lagerfeld was the main creative force behind his label and other renowned brands such as Chanel, Tommy Hilfiger, and Fendi.
Lagerfeld was born on September 10, 1933, in Hamburg, Germany. At a young age, he showed interest in fashion, but would not pursue it until his teenage years. Initially wanting to be an illustrator or portrait artist, he moved to Paris and began studying drawing and history. He would eventually pursue fashion as a living.
In 1954, a seventeen-year-old Lagerfeld entered a contest organized by the International Wool Association and submitted a series of sketches and fabric samples. He won first place with a sketch for a coat. Pierre Balmain, the designer who produced the coat, offered Lagerfeld a job as his junior assistant. By 1957, Lagerfeld was the art director for Jean Patou. After his time with Patou, he became one of the first freelance fashion designers. As a freelancer, he worked with various haute couture collections between France, Italy, England, and Germany. Most notably working with Chloé in 1964 and Fendi in 1965.
By the 1980s, Lagerfeld was already a major star in the fashion industry, going from one label to another, followed by success. Such as reviving the then declining Chanel brand with his ready-to-wear line when he became the art director in 1983. In 1984, Lagerfeld launched his line inspired by his idea of intellectual sexiness, which he sold to Tommy Hilfiger in 2005 while remaining involved in the design. Throughout his career, Lagerfeld followed his modemethode, fashion method, of devising every detail of a project himself. Involved from the initial sketch to the finished garment, Lagerfeld oversaw all aspects of the final look such as accessories, shoes, and make-up. Furthermore, his involvement extended to include photography, press, and display of his designs.
Though mainly known as a fashion designer, Lagerfeld was also a skilled draftsman and illustrator. He never went anywhere without a pencil and paper, constantly drawing fashion designs, caricatures, and technical drawings. Sketches were his main medium of communication, an action almost done compulsively. His fashion drawings usually included handwritten notes along the margins, often attaching swatches of fabric designs. However, Lagerfeld usually tore up his completed sketches and threw them away. In 2007, the designer famously declared to The New Yorker that he threw away everything and kept no archives of his designs. A self-proclaimed “big fan of trash cans,” Lagerfeld routinely discarded anything superfluous.
Today, Lagerfeld’s visionary talent in fashion, illustration, photography, styling, and publishing is regarded worldwide. In 2010, Lagerfeld received the Couture Council Fashion Visionary Award from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Furthermore, in 2011 the Gordon Parks Foundation recognized his work as a fashion designer, photographer, and filmmaker. Karl Lagerfeld died February 19, 2019, in Paris, France.