What name comes up when you think of modern fashion industry legends? Among a list of the top names in fashion sits Karl Lagerfeld, a man who has been in the fashion industry for decades working at the most coveted fashion houses ever. His 50 years on the fashion business have not been without controversy. See below for some of the highlights.

History:
Karl Lagerfeld grew up in Germany always knowing that he wanted a place in the fashion world. He moved to Paris in the 50’s to begin his informal education in fashion and quickly won a spot as Pierre Balmain’s assistant after beating Yves Saint Laurent in a design competition.

Karl Lagerfeld earned his dues working hard to perfect his design. His first haute couture collection for Jean Patou was actually booed by the press. Karl didn’t let that stop him from achieving his dream and he moved forward.

In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld began working for the fashion house Fendi, a collaboration that still exists to this day.

In 1983, Lagerfeld was named the art director of Chanel and together the fashion house and Lagerfeld have become a brand to be reckoned with. Karl Lagerfeld is the only major fashion designer without a house to call his own. But he has transformed Chanel and brought it into the modern day.

Currently he designs collections for Chanel, Fendi, Lagerfeld, Karl Lagerfeld and k Karl Lagerfeld.

The Artist:
Lagerfeld is not just a fashion designer though. The man is a skilled artist who has illustrated books and an achieved photographer. For decades, Karl Lagerfeld has been shooting the ad campaigns for Chanel and Fendi as well as taking pictures for fashion magazines, such as V Magazine.

Controversy:
Through the years, Lagerfeld has been the subject of controversy. In the 1990’s, Anna Wintour walked out of a Fendi show when Karl Lagerfeld used strippers and adult film stars as models.

His use of fur has caused a longstanding battle with PETA, who tried to pie him in 2001. Karl Lagerfeld has said about fur: In a meat eating world, wearing leather for shoes and even clothes, the discussion of fur is childish.

More recently he has received criticism on his input on the weight issues of models. The fashion designer said that Heidi Klum “is no runway model. She is simply too heavy and has too big a bust.” And caused outrage by saying that “no one wants to see round models.”

Karl Lagerfeld stands alone in the fashion world. Because of his intellect, because of his mastery of dressmaking, because of his German love of literature and humor, because of his evergreen curiosity, he alone among the designers of his generation has stayed vital and contemporary. He was trained in couture in the 1950s by people who were themselves trained in the 1920s, and it’s safe to say there is not a technique or trick he does not know. – New York Times

Love him or hate him. As Dior and Yves St. Laurent, Lagerfeld name is forever associated with high fashion of the 20th and now the 21st century.

[Karl Lagerfeld photo courtesy of PR Photos, Chanel Couture photo via Lisa Tant]