By: Mya Olson – Williams
On Monday, May 1st, was the annual Met Gala in New York City. This is one of the most popular events, especially for those involved in the fashion industry.
This year, the theme was “In honor of Karl”. Karl Lagerfeld was a well known designer who has worked with brands such as Chloé, and Fendi before joining Chanel alongside his own high-fashion brand name.
Most don’t know about the controversies of Lagerfeld. To many, specifically models and the ones who worked close to him, he was an amazing man with a huge impact. In other’s eyes, he’s not all that.
According to The New York Times, in 1994, Lagerfeld dressed a model in an outfit which was embroidered with a cherished Muslim text and sent her down the runway. He said, at the time he had no idea what it meant, and apologized.
There is no question when considering if Lagerfeld is fatphobic.
In 2009, he defended himself when using strictly size 0 models, saying “[N]o one wants to see curvy women”. During an interview with New York magazine, he was quite honest when talking about Andy Warhol, saying “I shouldn’t say this, but physically, he was quite repulsive”.
As said in Time magazine, fatphobia wasn’t all that was wrong with Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld was strongly against the #MeToo movement. In 2018, he defended Karl Templer, a man with allegations of attacking multiple models in which he denied. In Templer’s defense, Lagerfeld stated that he was “[F]ed up with it”.
Some boycotted the event due to its theme, by simply not showing up. Others are believed to have worn outfits the opposite of the theme as another silent protest.
Though Karl Lagerfeld will always be remembered for the creative and unique designer that he was, there’s more to him.
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