“Karl Lagerfeld,” writes Patrick Mauriès in the introduction to Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Houses, “changed his decor even more often than his image.” Indeed, the 13 homes belonging to the late Chanel creative director that are featured in the new book (published this week by Thames & Hudson) are remarkable in their aesthetic range—whether his Art Deco Paris apartment from the 1970s, his 1980s Memphis-design Monte Carlo pied-à-terre, or his spare yet luxurious weekend retreat in Biarritz. As Mauriès summarizes: “Lagerfeld collected interiors in the same way that Don Juan notched up conquests.”
Even more impressive than Lagerfeld’s mastery of interior design, however, was his skill as a collector: Throughout the decades, the designer amassed a dazzling range of paintings, furniture, and decorative objects of impressive worth. The Paris property on Rue de l’Universite included a light pendant by Man Ray and Joe Colombo Elda armchair, purchased before the Italian modernist designer became mainstream. His next apartment in the city of lights, Hôtel Pozzo di Borgo, was decorated lavishly after a “frenzied spending spree,” in the words of Marie Kalt, the book’s co-author along with Mauriès.
“Lagerfeld sought to go beyond a mere exercise in style and build up an unmatchable collection,” Kalt continues. “He accumulated Old Masters paintings, furniture with prestigious makers’ marks (with a special preference for the Transition style, which combined the curves of Louis X Rococo with elements of the neoclassical Louis XVI style), and precious historical objects that constantly changed place amidst a restless swirl of removal men.”
Meanwhile, his futuristic Left Bank lair on Quai Voltaire—which Vogue ran in its October 2008 issue—features chrome chairs by Marc Newsom and metal stools by Jasper Morrison. (In fact, many photographs from Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Houses come from the Condé Nast archive: Vogue alone shot his properties eight times in over 34 years.)
Lagerfeld was a polymath, and Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Houses serves not only as visual proof of his talents across multiple mediums, but also a fascinating glimpse into the interconnectedness of his great creative mind. “Dresses are only interesting as part of everything else that’s going on,” he told Vogue back in 1989.
Below, a preview of Lagerfeld’s artful homes, as published in Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Houses.
