The exhibition and the gala in early May in New York
[On the cover from MET Museum:
Runway image of CHANEL wedding dress, Fall-Winter 2005/06 Haute Couture. Photo: Giovanni Giannoni / WWD / Penske Media via Getty Images
Sketch of CHANEL wedding dress, Fall-Winter 2005/06 Haute Couture; Courtesy Patrimoine de CHANEL, Paris.]
Karl Lagerfeld: a Line of Beauty is the exhibition that this year the Metropolitan Museum of New York is dedicating to the designer who died in 2019. A tribute to the life and work of the brilliant creative director of maisons including Chloé, Fendi, and Chanel, long partnerships and long-lasting and synonyms of beauty and creativity. The exhibition (from the 5th of May to the 16th of July) focuses on the stylistic vocabulary of the designer and on his unique working methodology. Most of the 150 dresses on display are accompanied by preparatory sketches by Lagerfeld, his great passion was manifested by his complex creative process and constant collaboration with seamstresses, whose dexterity and know-how he appreciated. At the end of the exhibition, a section is dedicated to the garments that best express the wit and extravagance of the work of the “Kaiser of fashion” and a further area is dedicated to the images that portray him in his iconic black and white uniform.
As per tradition, the exhibition is anticipated by the famous Gala to be held on the 1st of May. Now considered in all respects the ‘Oscars of Fashion’ due to the parading of glamorous and spectacular dresses by celebs on the red carpet, this time the dress code is really “in Honor of Karl”. We just have to wait to see how the theme will be developed and interpreted by the international fashion system.

Composite Image, 2023. Photographed by Julia Hetta. Photo © Julia Hetta

Karl Lagerfeld Portrait. Photo: Annie Leibovitz / Vogue /Trunk Archive

Coat, FENDI (Italian, founded 1925), fall/winter 2000–2001; Courtesy FENDI. Photo © Julia Hetta

Sketch of CHANEL dress, Spring-Summer 2019 Haute Couture; Courtesy Patrimoine de CHANEL, Paris.

Dress, House of CHANEL (French, founded 1910), Spring-Summer 2019 Haute Couture; Courtesy Patrimoine de CHANEL, Paris. Photo © Julia Hetta

Sketch of CHLOÉ “Rachmaninoff” dress, spring/summer 1973; Courtesy CHLOÉ.

Runway image of CHANEL wedding dress, Fall-Winter 2005/06 Haute Couture. Photo: Giovanni Giannoni / WWD / Penske Media via Getty Images

Sketch of CHANEL wedding dress, Fall-Winter 2005/06 Haute Couture; Courtesy Patrimoine de CHANEL, Paris.

Wedding dress, House of CHANEL (French, founded 1910), Fall-Winter 2005/06 Haute Couture; Courtesy Patrimoine de CHANEL, Paris. Photo © Julia Hetta

Runway image of CHANEL Coat, Fall-Winter 2014/15 Haute Couture. Photo: Dominique Charriau / WireImage/ Getty Images