A Tribute To Karl Lagerfeld
The Houses of Chanel, Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld came together on 20 June 2019 to honour the late Karl Lagerfeld. The celebratory tribute designed, directed and staged by Robert Carsen at the Grand Palais in Paris – attended by some 2,5000 guests – presented the many facets of the extraordinaire through a tapesty of videos filmed throughout his life, testimonials from people who knew him, and a line-up of “live” contributions of highly talented actors, musicians, dancers who interpreted some of the music and literature Karl loved.
Actresses Tilda Swinton, Fanny Ardant, Cara Delevingne and Helen Mirren, friends of Karl Lagerfeld, recited and read excerpts from works by his favourite authors, such as Virginia Woolf, Stéphane Mallarmé, Colette and Edith Sitwell.
Tilda Swinton on stage to pay homage
Paying homage on stage also included Jookin dancer Lil Buck, violinist Charlie Siem, Argentinian choreographer German Cornejo, accompanied by his troupe of 17 tango dancers and his 7-piece orchestra from Buenos Aires (Carlos Gardel was Karl Lagerfeld’s favourite singer and the tango was his favourite dance), celebrated pianist Lang Lang (who played Chopin on the grand piano designed by Karl Lagerfeld for the 150th anniversary of Steinway), and American artist Pharrell Williams.
Featuring: Anna Wintour and Bruno Pavlovsky
In the setting inspired by Karl’s favourite colours: black and white accented with a touch of red – a spectacular exhibition of 56 enlarged portraits taken throughout his life – befits the larger than life contributions to art and fashion by this creative extraordinaire.
