Karl Lagerfeld’s 36 Years at CHANEL | Iconic Shows, Tweed & Reinvention | US

Karl Lagerfeld arrived at CHANEL in 1983 and spent the next 36 years proving that heritage could be energetic, glamorous and current.

For US readers who know the house through vintage tweed, runway imagery and celebrity dressing, the timeline makes the shifts especially clear.

1983: Karl Lagerfeld Enters CHANEL｜The Appointment Many Thought Was Too Risky

After Balmain, Patou and Chloé, Lagerfeld took on a house with immense history but a fashion business needing new energy. He studied old magazines and kept tweed, pearls, chains and the double-C while changing proportion and attitude. Former sewing staff recall exacting sketches; Inès de la Fressange became a defining face of the new CHANEL.

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The 1990s Put CHANEL at Pop-Culture Volume｜Supermodels, Minis and Logo Mania

Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista defined a decade of minis, chain belts, bold colour and logos beside classic tweed. Lagerfeld’s white ponytail, dark glasses and high collar became an icon too.

The 2000s Make the Show Part of the Story｜Métiers d’Art and the Grand Palais

The first Métiers d’Art collection arrived in 2002, putting specialist ateliers at the centre of the story. In 2005, CHANEL showed Spring-Summer 2006 at the Grand Palais, which soon became Lagerfeld’s giant theatre.

2007 SS 07S｜A Giant Dressing Room in White and Gold

07S turned the Grand Palais into an oversized dressing room, making the act of changing clothes part of the show.

2007 Métiers d’Art 07PF｜Monte-Carlo Revisits Le Train Bleu

Paris–Monte-Carlo revisited the 1924 ballet Le Train Bleu, using Gabrielle Chanel’s cultural history as material for a new collection.

2009 FW 09A｜Black, White Collars and Belle Brummell

09A sharpened black looks with detachable white collars and cuffs, creating a controlled, slightly dandyish CHANEL.

2010: Farm, Iceberg, Shanghai｜Three Worlds in One Year

10S became a farm, 10A an arctic landscape with a monumental iceberg, and 10PF moved the Métiers d’Art story to Shanghai.

2012–2013: Bombay, Scotland, Clean Energy and a Spinning Globe

12PF looked to India, 13PF to Scotland and 13S used wind turbines and solar panels. Then 13A filled the Grand Palais with a black globe marking CHANEL boutiques worldwide.

2014: First an Art Fair, Then a Supermarket

14S became a contemporary-art setting; 14A became the CHANEL Shopping Center, dropping luxury fashion into an ordinary shopping ritual.

2015: Dubai, Salzburg, a Street March and a Paris Brasserie

15C went to Dubai, 15PF to Salzburg, 15S ended as Boulevard Chanel and 15A transformed the Grand Palais into Brasserie Gabrielle.

2016–2017: From an Airport Terminal to Outer Space

16S became CHANEL Airlines, 16PF moved to Rome’s Cinecittà, 17PF returned to the Ritz Paris and 17A launched the fantasy with a double-C rocket.

2018: Waterfalls, Ancient Greece and Lagerfeld’s Hamburg

18S brought a waterfall indoors, 18C imagined ancient Greece and 18PF travelled to Lagerfeld’s birthplace, Hamburg, mixing maritime references with Métiers d’Art craft.

2019: New York, Snow and the Final CHANEL Winter

19PF Paris–New York was shown around the Temple of Dendur at The Met. Lagerfeld died on 19 February 2019; 19A followed on 5 March in an Alpine Grand Palais, his final ready-to-wear with Virginie Viard.

Anna Wintour Picks 13 Looks｜See the Range of the Lagerfeld Years in Minutes

From Naomi Campbell in 1989 to supermodel tweed, minis, logos and couture, Vogue’s 13 looks make the breadth of Lagerfeld’s CHANEL easy to see.

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He Kept Rewriting the Clothes—and Himself｜Why the Lagerfeld Years Still Feel Alive

The 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s look radically different, yet buttons, braid, chains and tweed keep pulling them back into the same CHANEL vocabulary.

He used the past to make the next version—at CHANEL and in himself—for 36 years. Which one fits your wardrobe: an assertive 1980s jacket, a high-energy 1990s tweed, or a playful late-period piece?