Karl Lagerfeld’s controversial comments have been resurfacing since he was announced as the subject of this year’s Met Gala. The designer, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 85, was credited with revolutionizing the merger of hip-hop and high fashion and dressing some of the industry’s most influential figures. However, Lagerfeld has also been criticised for his problematic statements on a variety of topics. These include his fatphobia, opposition to same-sex marriage and adoption by gay men, and his disregard for sexual assault survivors and the #MeToo movement.
On the subject of sexual harassment and assault, Lagerfeld expressed his disdain for the #MeToo movement in an interview for international fashion magazine Numéro in 2018. He said, “What shocks me most in all of this are the starlets who have taken 20 years to remember what happened…Not to mention the fact there are no prosecution witnesses. That said I cannot stand Mr. Weinstein. I had a problem with him at amfAR.” The designer was referring to disgraced former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and an AIDS charity gala held in support of the fight against AIDS at the Cannes Film Festival.
Lagerfeld also frequently made derogatory comments about models and body size. He infamously claimed that “no one wants to see curvy women” in a 2009 interview with German news magazine Focus, but in 2010, he told Vice that he loved “both the emaciated and voluptuous in fashion.” The designer was also vocally critical of women larger than size 0 or 2 and co-authored a diet book after losing 92 pounds in over a year.
Lagerfeld’s disdain for individuals he deemed “ugly” also garnered controversy. In a 2010 interview with Vice, he called artist Andy Warhol “physically repulsive” and expressed opposition to same-sex marriage, particularly two men adopting children. “For me, it’s difficult to imagine – one of the papas at work and the other at home with the baby. How would that be, for the baby? I don’t know,” he said. “I see more lesbians married with babies than I see boys married with babies. And I also believe more in the relationship between mother and child than in that between father and child.”
Overall, Lagerfeld’s questionable comments continue to cast a shadow on his legacy in the fashion industry.
