High Profile

Uber-designer Karl Lagerfeld, Chloé’s most famous protégé, is leveraging his highly visible profile with a just-opened Saint Germain des Prés store featuring two new Lagerfeld brands: Karl Lagerfeld Paris (KLP), with premium ready-to-wear collections for men and women, and Lagerfeld, touting everyday clothes for the “urban” man.

A third label called—can you guess?—Karl, for men and women, targets a “digitally savvy clientele”, in other words everyone living outside of Paris. The store’s black facade and minimal interior, all in black and white with smoky glass partitions etched with the designer’sprofile, is pure KL. And it doesn’t end there.

Lagerfeld’s own immutable getup is a running theme everywhere, veering dangerously toward parody. The Karl line is overwhelmingly black, white and grey witha few splashes of crimson, sky blue and one brightly fetching floral; it targets youth—cropped jackets, peek-a-boo tops, hot pants, minis and skintight jeans.

The more sophisticatedKLP label has enough range to appeal to style-conscious men and women of all ages, but includes some puzzling elements, like a bland sky-blue dress with a baby doll collar and asymmetric bib that’s a deadringer for a 1960s flight stewardess uniform,without the sex appeal.

Lagerfeld seems at his best here with eveningwear, including some sleek trousers and beautifully designed tops and dresses where his genius for glamour is in full force.

There’s also eyewear, bags, shoes, fragrancesand, of course, the designer’s signature fingerless leather gloves in several colors.

 

194 blvd Saint Germain, Paris  7th,

01.42.22.74.99

 

 

Originally published in the March 2013 issue of France Today.