Karl Lagerfeld - A living legend

Today is Karl Lagerfeld's birthday. A day to have a closer look at his life. He has accomplished so many things in his life that I am not claiming I am mentioning his biography.
As little girl I was fascinated by his work and since than I am following his career. Most likely he is one of the reasons I studied fashion and worked for many years in the fashion industry. For sure he is an inspiration for many fashion designers, stylists and photographers.

In 1955 Karl Lagerfeld wins second prize in a coat design competition sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat. YSL won the first...

Lagerfeld was awarded a position as an apprentice at Pierre Balmain after winning the second place. He stayed at Balmain for 3 years. Than he worked for Jean Patou for five years designing haute couture. From 1962 up to 1982 he worked as freelance designer and in 1983 he became creative director at Chanel.

In 1975 he launched his Parfums Lagerfeld 'Çhloe'and in 1984 he launched his own name Karl Lagerfeld label.

In 2008 Lagerfeld created a teddy bear in his likeness produced by Steiff.

Not only fashion, he is also making some small films, see his Evanescent Metamorphoses Chanel Fall-Winter 2011/12 Pre-collection:

On 3 June 2011 he was awarded the Gordon Parks Foundation Award in recognition of his work as a designer, photographer and filmmaker. "I'm so proud, and so very thankful, but I'm never done," said Lagerfeld of the honour. "I knew Gordon's photos before I knew Gordon, and they left such an impression on me as a student in München. That's what you want, as an artist. That's what I hope for."

At the moment Karl Lagerfeld runs 3 fashion houses (Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, and Fendi). All the photography of the advertisement campaigns he does himself. But he is also photographing editorials and covers since 1987. His latest cover is for Vogue Japan October 2011: