The Little Book of Chanel by Lagerfeld: The Story of the Iconic Fashion Designer

by Emma Baxter-Wright

The House of Chanel is synonymous with not one, but two, iconic designers. First there was Gabrielle, and then there was Karl. Chanel is a house known for its signatures that not only changed the course of fashion history but still resonate today – the Little Black Dress, the tweed suit, costume jewelry, Chanel No5. These signatures were inspired by Gabrielle Chanel's taste, life experience and travels – but it was Karl Lagerfeld who took these signatures and ingeniously adapted them for the twenty-first century woman. From his first days at the helm of Chanel in the 1980s, to his creative application of the Chanel logo to everything from biker boots to a space rocket, King Karl's reign at Chanel is nothing if not legendary. Little Book of Chanel by Lagerfeld covers his most exquisite pieces, breathtaking catwalk shows and constant reinvention that have maintained Chanel as the most illustrated couture house in the world. Written by the bestselling author of Little Book of Chanel , this beautifully illustrated book is the essential guide to Lagerfeld's tenure at Chanel.

Genres: Fashion, Coffee Table Books, Nonfiction

160 pages, Hardcover

Published November 15, 2022

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

LAGERFELD DLA CHANEL. HISTORIA KULTOWEGO DOMU MODY to kolejne podejście do opowiedzenia historii marki Chanel, a raczej jej ważnego rozdziału - tego, w którym to Karl Lagerfeld tworzył kolekcje i kształtował kierunek jej rozwoju. Oczywiście autorka przedstawia nam najpierw projektanta i przybliża jego pochodzenie, początki i twórców, którzy pełnili istotną rolę w kształtowaniu jego kariery. Najwięcej miejsca jednak poświęcono trudnemu wyzwaniu, jakie przed nim postawiono - by przejąć stery w Chanel po samej Coco Chanel. W kolejnych rozdziałach dowiadujemy się, jak do wyzwania podszedł Lagerfeld, jakie były jego kolekcje, w jaki sposób czerpał z dorobku domu mody, jednocześnie dając wiele od siebie. Poznajemy odbiór kolekcji przez krytyków i opinię publiczną. Autorka przybliża nam kim były jego muzy i w jaki sposób inspirowały kolejne projekty.Co ważne, książka zawiera dużo grafik i zdjęć - czy to z pokazów, czy reklam bądź projektów. Pojawia się też masa cytatów, co dowodzi o otwartości projektanta na wszelakie wywiady.Z ogromną ciekawością pochłonęłam tę książkę i skończyłam bogatsza o znajomość wielu interesujących faktów.Seria Historia Kultowego Domu Mody idealnie sprawdzi się dla miłośników mody i ciekawostek o projektantach. A klasyczne i minimalistyczne wydanie sprawi, że będzie to też piękna ozdoba biblioteczki. Polecam serdecznie!

IG: @Amanda.Says

[Jaimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most people when tasked with reading a book that’s part of a series for the library summer reading program would pick fiction, possibly from a series they’re already embedded in or as an excuse to delve into a new long form narrative. And yet, here I go with another unexpected pick - though I swear it is part of a series! The Little Books of Fashion explore many of the world’s most fabulous designers from Christian Louboutin to Yves Saint Laurent (and everyone in between) and are up to at least 16 volumes, so they definitely count as a bonafide series that explores the history of fashion, atelier by atelier. I technically skipped ahead in the series, and should probably have covered the influence of Coco Chanel before getting to the Karl Lagerfeld years, but this small book was a wonderful taste of the reimagined Couture house and didn’t really need the prerequisite. The story explores Lagerfeld’s background, his arrival at the struggling fashion house, and the iconoclastic taste that his wonderful mind brought to the reimagined Chanel collections - all in an easy to read, packed with graphics, and well designed volume. While this may be only a small taste (I will always want far more graphic representation than any fashion book can possibly give), it’s as perfect an introduction as I could hope for. Now, on to find more books on Chanel - and Karl Lagerfeld!

[Nasib Al-Karmi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book on Karl Lagerfeldt’s(original surname) impact and transformation of the Chanel brand. His dedication and never ending hard work that he poured into the iconic brand will forever live on. Especially liked how when starting he studied every aspect and archive of Chanel’s past and took that to redirect the brand. He was a voracious consumer of media & trends which he would then transform the zeitgeist into a garment. His overuse of logos for the newer luxury branding obsessed consumer as well as his purchase of local artisan houses specializing in niche craftsmanship showed his dedication to the brand and ultimately the consumer. His take on luxury art as theatre is impressive in the way that he created spectacular shows with incredible detail (shipped 256 tonne melting ice berg from Scandinavia for Fall 2010 show!) Never satisfied with what he’d created & always striving for the next great idea!
Author wasn’t very objective and never spoke negatively of him or mentioned any controversy which he seemed to be marred in.

This book taught me how easy it is to read when you’re genuinely interested in a topic :) Thankful for that. Took notes on almost every page. 9.5/10

[Willow Rankin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is for a different edition.
Just like the Little Book of Chanel, this book is a brief introduction into the life of designer Karl Lagerfeld, and more importantly his contribution to the house of Chanel. There is no denying his artistic vision. However, Karl Lagerfeld is a complicated figure. He said some not very nice things (downright horrific actually) and this is barely mentioned in the 160ish pages of this biography.
However, this book does contain some beautiful photography of Karls time at the helm of Chanel, both his designs and his iconic runway shows.
It did leave me wanting more, which considering this is a "little book" it cannot cover everything I want.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 5 stars all the way around. It gives you an in depth look at all the creative work Lagerfield did during his time. Which to me is an interesting read. Plus you get a cute little hardback book to add to a bookcase.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely stunning little book, great for the luxury lovers among us. I bought several others in this series as well.

[Pengyu Jiang · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well-written and beautiful little book with fun stories for those interested in fashion. After this book i want to read more so I bought the whole collection!

[Mahi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew Coco chanel was such a diva

[Julia Walczak · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️
Błyskotliwe, bardzo ciekawe i zachęcające do zgłębienia tematu

[Niamh Ennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous. Every innovation influenced by Coco herself and the attention to detail and drama of rhe runway shows

[Danny Inglis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just ok to me. I read the little book of Dior prior to this and loved how that was so chronological and we were able to see how the house changed throughout the years.

Since this follows the designs of one person, we don’t really get an overarching timeline of Lagerfeld’s design progression throughout the book - a lot of the book is name dropping the people he worked with or worked alongside, and how they impacted and influenced the Chanel vision. To go more into the fashion design of it all would be examining on a finer lens each of his collections, which I don’t think would fit in a book that is a summary of Lagerfeld’s life and impact.

Overall very resourceful, a great introduction to Lagerfeld and his work.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this book was honestly pretty interesting. I don’t read non-fiction books a lot because I don’t enjoy them, and that didn’t change reading this. However, I learned a lot on how Karl Lagerfeld changed the entire Chanel industry, making the brand once again successful.