“I like to be understated, but also chic.”
“They’re all so ‘me’ these pieces, because they’re simple to wear,” she shrugged. She kept the focus on tailored pieces, shirts and some denim. Delevingne put the kibosh on a pink prototype, insisting on baby blue as a more gender-neutral shade. It was important to her that the clothes were practical and transformable, so a black nylon blouson reverses to silky faux fur, and hoods and collars are detachable on other garments. “It was a really wonderful collaborative experience,” she said.
“It was very important for me to see samples, to be involved as much as possible,” she said.ĭelevingne was shooting a TV show in Prague, where a one-hour meeting with the Lagerfeld design team morphed into a four-hour session of trying on clothes, making suggestions, and throwing out new ideas. She took a very hands-on approach, another chief Lagerfeld quality, as much as her schedule and technical skill allowed. She also based the Cara Loves Karl capsule on well-made wardrobe staples “that you feel good wearing.…I just wanted it to be just different and something that I’ve never done before.” Lagerfeld often spoke of the need to “push things” and so she applied this to the collaboration, putting sustainability and a genderless approach at the top of her agenda. Her proximity to Lagerfeld, whose prodigious knowledge and refined taste extended into interiors and industrial design, certainly seeped in.ĭuring fashion shoots with him, Delevingne came to realize how clothes can make you feel, mentioning a Marie Antoinette getup for one photography session that made her feel very differently about herself and appreciate “how actually interesting fashion is.” “He taught me so much more about fashion in terms of its possibilities.” I never really gave it that much credit,” she confessed. “I didn’t really know that much about fashion before I started. It was Lagerfeld who instilled in Delevingne an appreciation for his metier.
“I was so nervous about telling him, but he was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’ve never thought of that,'” she related, while declining to disclose the concept.ĭelevingne and Lagerfeld were like-minded in many ways about fashion, which the capsule collection demonstrates with its emphasis on wearability, practical touches like pockets, a playful spirit, chic tailoring - and several interpretations of the shirt, Lagerfeld’s favorite garment. In fact, his openness and encouragement ultimately gave Delevingne the confidence to share an idea she had for a Chanel show, which Lagerfeld was unable to realize before he passed away in February 2019. “ He never told me to do anything specifically, but he allowed me the space to grow, and he would treat me like a friend.…He was so human with me and it made me feel so much more comfortable in myself.”
“He really influenced me so much,” Delevingne marveled about Lagerfeld during a recent interview over Teams.
(“For her to start singing with Pharrell is not that bad, no?” Lagerfeld deadpanned at the time.) The two danced and sang an original duet - “CC the World.” Karl Lagerfeld and Cara Delevingne Courtesy of Karl Lagerfeldįor a Chanel show in Salzburg in 2014, the German designer went so far as to cast Delevingne as Empress Elisabeth of Austria, popularly known as “Sisi,” opposite Pharrell Williams, for a short film he directed.