Written by Mia Aponte. Photo courtesy of Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet at The New York Times.
Now that over a week has passed since this year’s Met Gala, we have seen a plethora of innovators within the music, film and fashion industry commemorate the late Karl Lagerfeld, an influential yet controversial designer who shaped the 20th century and beyond within the fashion industry.
Lagerfeld was best known as the creative power behind the modern revival of Chanel for over three decades alongside other high-end brands such as Balmain and Fendi. There is no denying that he was a lack of many trades and was a dominant force in shape-shifting fashion into the 20th century, but this year’s Met Gala definitely crossed a line in terms of showcasing fashion in ALL forms. This is a night all about community and celebrating a man who was publicly known as fatphobic, racist and misogynistic.
The fashion industry has been criticized on numerous occasions for its lack of inclusivity, specifically, of larger body types and races. During his career, Lagerfeld had no shame in degrading bodies, particularly women’s bodies. Despite also struggling with his own body issues, having lost 92 pounds in a year, Lagerfeld was infamous for criticizing celebrities along with the likes of Adele and Heidi Klum. Additionally, he was known for mocking body positivity movements and making outrageous claims that anorexia was not as dangerous as junk food and television and that fashion is “the healthiest motivation for losing weight.”
But it wasn’t just fatphobia that Lagerfeld broadcasted to the public. In a 2009 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, he said that Coco Chanel “wasn’t ugly enough to be a feminist,” while in 2010, he was critiqued for putting supermodel Claudia Schiffer in blackface and yellowface for the German magazine Stern Fotografie. There is no denying that Karl Lagerfeld was a questionable and concerning topic to be discussed at fashion’s biggest event of the year.
Looking back now, there could have been numerous other designers and or themes that could have been showcased at this year’s Met Gala. Just to name a few, André Leon Talley, Thierry Mugler, Hanae Mori, Vivienne Westwood and Issey Miyake were pioneers in the world of fashion who have recently passed away, but their iconography remains eternal and throughout their given careers highlighted and shaped the industry in positive ways. For example, Vivienne Westwood was known for her punk spirit in activism on and off the runway, André Leon Talley was a key player at Vogue Magazine, Hanae Mori was a symbol of what a woman can accomplish in modern Japan, Issey Miyake was known for his technology-driven clothing and Thiery Mugler was a designer that mastered the avant-garde, architectural, hyper-feminine and theatrical approach to haute couture.
Any one of these figures could have been an interesting subject of this year’s Met Gala and it’s a shame that their work is not highlighted and celebrated as opposed to Karl Lagerfeld. At the end of the day, this year brought up questions about accountability and morals. Hopefully next year, the Met and Vogue will pick a theme that is better suited and celebrates the fashion community as a whole.
