Times are a’changing in the fashion industry, and it seems Karl Lagerfeld isn’t totally onboard. In an interview with Business of Fashion following yesterday’s Fendi show in Rome, the iconic designer expressed his hesitation with switching to a “buy now, see now” model many labels are adopting.
“I can show my collections and sell them and give people the time to make their choice, to order them and to make them beautifully produced and editors can photograph them,” says Karl. “If not, that’s the end of everything,”
This sentiment, as BoF notes, is a largely European way of thinking, preserving the process and calendar of the luxury fashion industry. However, the Kaiser isn’t totally opposed to the notion of immediacy—in his own way, he already caters to it.
“Chanel makes six collections per year, but I make already one—the capsule—that is not shown to the press, to nobody. The day it comes out is the day the stores get a document. Now I want to do something else … to make a special collection only for the [Internet]. Fifteen things, you buy them and you get them immediately.”
So if you’ve been aching to get your hands on one of his runway confection, looks like you’ll still have to wait—at least for now. Read the rest of Karl’s interview with Business of Fashion here.
