The book, the first complete investigation into Lagerfeld’s (1933–2019) artistry, explores his extraordinary sixty-five year career, from the designs for Chloé and Fendi in the 1960s and 1970s to his celebrated leadership in the 1980s and beyond at Chanel and with his own label. Inspired by the ‘line of beauty’ theorised by eighteenth-century English painter William Hogarth, this publication pursues the straight and serpentine ‘lines’ and their intersections in Lagerfeld’s work as a means of understanding his unique creative process.
Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty was designed by OK-RM and is entirely typeset in Mercure(Abyme, 2021). The typeface is also used for the exhibition graphics and communication materials, designed by the museum’s in-house team, as well as for the Met Gala 2023, which celebrated Lagerfeld’s legacy and the opening of the exhibition.