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A Life in Houses – Karl Lagerfeld
A consummate tastemaker of the highest order, revered globally for his exacting eye and passion for the arts and culture, the late Mr Lagerfeld dedicated his life’s work to fashion, with lengthy tenures at Chanel, Chloé and Fendi. It is also to be said that Mr Lagerfeld was a collector of houses, such was his passion for decorative arts, which allowed him to enjoy a private creative output. So as not to confine himself aesthetically, he bought a cache of houses and apartments across France, from Paris to Biarritz, as well as in Rome and Hamburg.
Christopher Farr London was privileged to receive orders for rugs from Mr Lagerfeld, on personal stationery of luxurious weight and inked in his expressive handwriting.
These thirteen residences, exquisitely decorated, are brought to us by Patrick Mauriès, author of notable titles on fashion and design including Fornasetti: Designer of Dreams, and Cabinet of Curiosities, with co-author Marie Kalt long-time editor of AD France and now independent consultant, with thanks to Thames and Hudson publishers. Mr Lagerfeld’s eclectic tastes were fully brought to life; with interiors ranging from Art Deco to the Post-Modern. In large format, A Life in Houses, with over 140 illustrations, invites the reader to marvel at and experience inside the private world of such an icon. Imagery is captured by revered photographers such as Horst P.Horst, Karen Radkai, Oberto Gili and even Karl Lagerfeld himself.
See the Gunta Stolzl rugs produced by Christopher Farr now housed in Paris at 7L.
From collecting antiques and furnishings for his homes, another insatiable desire was books; metres and metres of shelves filled with them, gathered from all around the world, totalling over 300,000.
After his passing, his close friend and muse Amanda Harlech takes us a mini tour around Villa Louciennes, his residence just to the West of Paris.
The rest of the Villa Louveciennes was decorated to recreate the C18 intellectual way of life, however, upstairs on ‘Karl’s floor’ you are confronted with a modern gallery like space totally dedicated bibliography; from floor to ceiling on all visible walls, and the decoration brought to the room from the graphic pattern throughout the Gunta Stölzl rugs, produced by Christopher Farr. A space where he sketched, and sketched, his daily discipline, it was totally Karl’s space.
The main photograph ©Jacques Schumacher. Karl Lagerfeld at the Unknown table by George Sweden, with Riviera chairs by Michele de Lucchi
Purchase ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Houses’, Patrick Mauriès, Marie Kalt from Thames and Hudson.
