Karl Lagerfeld, who designs for Chanel, is the son of a wealthy Swedish father. He was brought up in Hamburg where, during his early years, he developed a passion for beautiful clothes. In 1952, when he was 14, he went to Paris to study art. Two years later he entered a compeittion sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat with a design for a coat, which earned him joint first prize. (His fellow winner was Yves Saint Laurent who had designed a dress). Pierre Balmain was one of the judges and subsequently employed Lagerfeld and it was at Balmain that he was to learn the skills of haute couture. In 1958 he became head designer at Patou.

From 1964 he acted as a freelance designer for the fashion houses of Chloë, Krizia, Cadette and Max Mara and also worked for the shoe manufacturer Charles Jourdan.

He was employed by Chanel from 1983 when he showed the first haute couture collection under the name of Chanel.

He incorporated Coco Chanel’s signature designs into his work, often using them with irreverence.

In the past he has teamed sporty training shoes with Chanel’s classic suits. In this season’s haute couture collection he uses her revolutionary 1920s dropped-waist Garçonne style.

He uses ruffled skirts with a lean, tailored jacket, embroidery with tweed.

Lagerfelt has cleverly continued to exploit the Chanel look to this day.