If anyone deserves a party, it’s Karl Lagerfeld.  Just two short days ago, at the French embassy on Fifth Avenue, the Couture Council of The Museum at FIT (the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City) announced that this year’s honoree, for whose work and lifetime accomplishments will be celebrated with an amplified sense of grandeur September 10th, is Karl Lagerfeld.  Lagerfeld, the German-born fashion pioneer most noted for his work as creative director and haute couture designer for the House of Chanel, is also famously entwined with the likes of Fendi of Italy and his own label, K Karl Lagerfeld.  The designer has as a storied past dating back to 1954 when he started working under the direction of Pierre Balmain.  After moving to the House of Patou in 1958, Lagerfeld designed for Chloé, Fendi, and in 1975, launched Parfums Lagerfeld.  Fluent speaker of German, French, Italian and English, the designer has long cultivated a rich sense of personal identity, style and wisdom that reaches far beyond his trademark tweed and awe inspiring couture shows.  Never without his neat, silver ponytail, dark glasses, gloved fingers, crisp white collars and slim black suiting, Lagerfeld has left us spinning in the glow of his legacy from the runways of Paris and the streets of Italy.

Therefore, it is no surprise that a crowd, thick with fashion leading names like Francisco Costa, Nicole Miller, Ralph Rucci, Gemma Kahng, and Couture Council chairs Yaz Hernandez, Alexandra Lebenthal, Charlotte Moss, and Liz Peek, gathered to start the roll of ticket sales this week on Fifth Avenue in New York City for the annual FIT benefit and luncheon slated for September 10th.  Dr. Joyce Brown, President of FIT, will present Lagerfeld with the Couture Council Fashion Visionary Award at the benefit, an honor created specifically for the designer.  A distinct award perfectly fitting for a man that gives us anything but the ordinary;  it’s time to party, Karl fever is in the air.

Francisco Costa; Linda Fargo, Christian Cota, and Lucia Hwong Gordon; FIT’s Joyce F. Brown with Ralph Rucci; Nicole Miller; FIT’s Patricia Mears and Valerie Steele with Liz Peek


Posted by : Courtney O’Kane Academy of Art University Alumna at 01:55 PM (IST)