How Hip-Hop Influenced Karl Lagerfeld

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When: 1991

Taking notes from hip-hop and Black designers like Dapper Dan, Lagerfeld arguably ushered in the Golden Age of Chanel with the brand’s ready-to-wear collection in 1991. Long gone were the days of matronly tweed sets and understated styling essentially, what the internet would now dub as “quiet luxury.” On the runway, the brand’s signature flower brooches were nixed for 3D camellia pasties tacked over mesh body stockings. Houndstooth was replaced with denim to create coordinate sets styled with backward baseball caps and thick Chanel-branded chain belts. Models wore waxy, vinyl coats layered with Lagerfeld’s take on dookie chains, nameplates, and chunky gold rings. In essence, the collection was an acknowledgment that times were changing, and so was Chanel. “Rappers tell the truth—that’s what’s needed now,” Lagerfeld remarked backstage after the show.

When: 1993

Lagerfeld didn’t abandon his interest in hip-hop aesthetics after his initial dive into the genre. Chanel’s Spring 1994 ready-to-wear collection amplified the hip-hop “theme” he explored previously by approaching his designs with streetwear in mind. Black Chanel-branded suspenders and chain belts held up billowing denim pants and baggy shorts. Models in tweed bucket hats made their way down the runway with matching mini skirts and cropped jackets. Orange, wired “necklaces” reminiscent of the hefty earphones DJs used accentuated a denim set of the same color. Model Stephanie Roberts made her entrance on Lagerfeld-designed rollerblades worn with oversized black shorts, a plaid button-down, and of course, suspenders. Luckily for us, he wasn’t afraid to design collections that would make Coco Chanel roll over in her grave.

When: 2011

Like Marc Jacobs, Lagerfeld was another high-fashion designer who embraced many of the contemporary hip-hop stars of his time. He was also one of many designers beloved by Ye, which isn’t surprising considering they are both known for being celebs who have managed to get away with making controversial statements. Their relationship dates back to Ye’s famous Paris Fashion Week trip in 2009, where he was caught posing for photos with the German designer. A couple years later in 2011, Lagerfeld was tapped to shoot an iconic Kanye cover for VMAN, where Ye is captured with his money literally where his mouth is. One in 10 issues released actually pasted real dollar bills into Ye’s mouth for the cover. In the issue, Lagerfeld commented on Ye saying, “His strength is mixing music and fashion. He has an instant instinct for what looks and sounds good. He makes everything new and different.” In 2012, it was rumored that Ye was going to collaborate with Lagerfeld on clothing. Although that never happened, they continued to have a creative relationship together. In 2016, Lagerfeld shot a Harper’s Bazaar editorial with Ye and Kim Kardashian. 

When: 2014

Theophilus London was known for being one of the more fashion-forward rap artists during the early 2010s. Aside from developing close relationships with the likes of Ye and Virgil Abloh, he also caught the attention of Karl Lagerfeld. The creatives first met each other when Lagerfeld put together a book titled The Little Black Jacket: Chanel’s Classic Revisited in 2012. Made in collaboration with Carine Roitfeld, the book featured various celebrities wearing Chanel’s iconic little black jacket. London was one of the celebs shot by Lagerfeld for the book. Two years later, London asked if Lagerfeld would shoot the cover of his Vibes! album and he accepted the offer. According to WWD, Lagerfeld is also the one who wrote the name of the album on the cover. “Karl is a renaissance man. He’s great. Fire every designer you know and hire Karl,” London told Life+Times in an interview. “To go to someone who has really lived life and lived every day of his life to be a better dude, be cooler, stimulate his mind, learn everything possible, create his own culture and create his own reality is a blessing.”

When: 2014-2019

If there was any hip-hop star that comes first to mind when thinking about Lagerfeld’s legacy, it has to be no one other than Pharrell Williams. The stylish producer from Virginia Beach has always been an ardent supporter of Chanel. Back in 2011, he went viral for customizing a black pair of Timbs by adding Chanel’s iconic “Double C” logo to the toe box. He also frequently attended the label’s fashion shows. In an interview with WWD, Pharrell said he developed a close relationship with Lagerfeld because he frequently ran into the designer at events or at the Mercer Hotel in New York City. They first worked together to make Reincarnation, a movie for Chanel’s Pre-Fall 2015 campaign. The film featured an original song by Pharrell called “CC The World” and casted Pharrell as an dashing porter who woos model Cara Delevingne. He walked for Chanel’s runway show during Paris Fashion Week and became the first man to ever star in a Chanel handbag campaign in 2017. Many sneakerheads likely remember Pharrell’s Adidas Hu NMD collaboration with Chanel in 2017, which was limited to just 500 pairs and lives up to be one of the most hyped NMDs ever released. Shortly after walking in another Chanel runway show in 2018, the house revealed it would release a capsule collection with Pharrell in 2019. Unfortunately, Lagerfeld died weeks before the collaboration was released. “He was always very honest and welcomed me and my team with open arms to the Chanel family,” Pharrell told WWD. 

When: 2018

One of the most surprising moves made by Fendi during Lagerfeld’s final years was a high-low collaboration between Fendi and Fila. The collaboration wasn’t actually inspired by hip-hop but instead sparked by a conversation with a popular Instagram artist named Hey Reilly. Fendi’s creative director of accessories, Silvia Venturini Fendi, noticed Reilly’s graphic art interpretations of popular brands. One that caught Silvia’s eye was a mashup between Fendi and Fila, which led Silvia to reach out to Reilly to help design an actual collaboration with the Italian sportswear brand. The collaboration debuted at Fendi’s Fall/Winter 2018 show and was followed up with a logomania capsule collection. Fila’s prominence within old school hip-hop culture was definitely an unspoken point of reference found within the looks produced for the collaboration. Oversized puffer jackets, tracksuits, and all-over monogram patterns reminiscent of Dapper Dan defined the collection.

When: 2018

When Karl Lagerfeld photographed Nicki Minaj for Elle at his apartment in Paris, she said, “I’m not crying, you are.” Evidently, the pair were a natural fit. Minaj, a rapper inspired by Lil’ Kim (who’s known for her iconic Chanel looks from the ‘90s), and Lagerfeld first linked up back in 2017 at a dinner for V Magazine, where she called him “one of my fashion icons.” Her admiration for the late designer had never been a secret, spitting “These Chanel bags is a bad habit” on the track “Feeling Myself” back in 2014 and even wearing head-to-toe Fendi on the cover for her single “Chun-Li.” And after their collaborative cover, it was clear Lagerfeld was feeling the love too. Just months after Lagerfeld died in 2019, Fendi announced their latest artist capsule with Minaj, a massive 127-piece collection appropriately named “Fendi Prints On.” The capsule, if anything, acted as a signifier of Lagerfeld’s symbiotic relationship with hip-hop that spanned over two decades.