Karl Lagerfeld, possivelmente o mais icônico estilista do mundo, faleceu nesta terça (19.02) em Paris, aos 85 anos.

O diretor criativo da Chanel, Fendi e de sua própria marca já vinha dando sinais de cansaço extremo. Sua ausência ao final do desfile de Alta Costura em janeiro foi motivo de alerta para todos sobre seu estado de saúde. O motivo do falecimento não foi divulgado.

A Chanel anunciou Virginie Viard como nova diretora criativa da marca. Braço direito de Lagerfeld há 30 anos, Virginie aparece no documentário da Netflix e foi quem entrou ao final do desfile em janeiro. A maison também escreveu um comunicado emocionante que pode ser lido na íntegra aqui ou no post abaixo.

Karl foi diretor criativo da Chanel de 1983 a 2019. O FFW está preparando uma retrospectiva para breve.

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It is with deep sadness that the House of CHANEL announces the passing of Karl Lagerfeld, the Creative Director for the CHANEL Fashion House since 1983. An extraordinary creative individual, Karl Lagerfeld reinvented the brand’s codes created by Gabrielle Chanel: the CHANEL jacket and suit, the little black dress, the precious tweeds, the two-tone shoes, the quilted handbags, the pearls and costume jewelry. Regarding Gabrielle Chanel, he said, “My job is not to do what she did, but what she would have done. The good thing about Chanel is it is an idea you can adapt to many things.” A prolific creative mind with endless imagination, Karl Lagerfeld explored many artistic horizons, including photography and short films. The House of CHANEL benefited from his talent for all the branding campaigns related to Fashion since 1987. Finally, one cannot refer to Karl Lagerfeld without mentioning his innate sense of repartee and self-mockery. Alain Wertheimer, CEO of CHANEL, said: “Thanks to his creative genius, generosity and exceptional intuition, Karl Lagerfeld was ahead of his time, which widely contributed to the House of CHANEL’s success throughout the world. Today, not only have I lost a friend, but we have all lost an extraordinary creative mind to whom I gave carte blanche in the early 1980s to reinvent the brand.” Bruno Pavlovsky, President of Fashion at CHANEL, said: “Fashion show after fashion show, collection after collection, Karl Lagerfeld left his mark on the legend of Gabrielle Chanel and the history of the House of CHANEL. He steadfastly promoted the talent and expertise of CHANEL’s ateliers and Métiers d’Art, allowing this exceptional know-how to shine throughout the world. The greatest tribute we can pay today is to continue to follow the path he traced by – to quote Karl – ‘continuing to embrace the present and invent the future’.” Virginie Viard, Director of CHANEL’s Fashion Creation Studio and Karl Lagerfeld’s closest collaborator for more than 30 years, has been entrusted by Alain Wertheimer with the creative work for the collections, so that the legacy of Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld can live on.

A post shared by CHANEL (@chanelofficial) on Feb 19, 2019 at 5:59am PST