Many a fashion editor has framed a Chanel invitation from the Karl Lagerfeld era, when the German-born designer would sketch a polar bear, a castle, a French waiter — or some fabulous outfit — with his inimitable flair.
Now Sotheby’s in Paris is selling more than 1,000 “previously unseen” drawings in its sixth auction to benefit the estate of the late designer, along with working documents, gadgets and a few pairs of his fingerless gloves in metallic leather.
The online sale, with all lots offered without reserve pricing, will run from July 2 to 8, accompanied by an exhibition at Sotheby’s in Paris which will end on July 7.
Some drawings will be sold individually, and others in packets of four to 12 that demonstrate how Lagerfeld used sketching for inspiration, and working out his design ideas.
“All of these are personal drawings of Karl. They were not given to the brands he was working for,” Pierre Mothes, vice president and director of business development at Sotheby’s France, said in an interview. “The magic here is we are sure that they were kept by him as a creator until his death.
“We have a lot of historical drawings, which start in the ’70s, so it’s basically all the drawings he kept as a man of paper,” he added. “They are the last ones.”
In Mothes’ estimation, the drawings hold artistic, historical, sentimental and collectible value as interest in the prolific German designer remains high, more than seven years after his death.
“I never look at my watch when I’m sketching,” the indefatigable designer once quipped.
“Fashion begins on paper; and it persists on paper,” he also said.
Karl Lagerfeld sketching at a drafting table.
WWD
Lagerfeld famously designed for Chanel, Fendi, Chloé and his signature fashion house. He posted all his sketches somewhere in the studio, and the seamstresses and tailors interpreted them faithfully.
While all bids at Sotheby’s will start at 1 euro, Mothes expects elaborate, hand-colored illustrations will attract the highest offers, along with some political sketches and ones of his troubled companion Jacques de Bascher.
A Karl Lagerfeld sketch titled “Les Trois Muses” sold for 201,600 euros at a Paris auction in 1986, despite an initial estimate of 1,000 to 1,500 euros, and a set of four fashion sketchbooks dating from the 2000s sold for 315,000 euros at a 2021 sale, well above the estimate of 500 to 800 euros.
“Lagerfeld delighted in cataloguing, archiving and accumulating, as much as he did in creating,” according to Sotheby’s, which previously organized sales of his art, collectibles, furniture, wardrobe and memorabilia, in Paris and Monaco.
While drawings will dominate the July sale, outlier lots include some Swedish garden benches from the 1920s, illustrating Lagerfeld’s love of Art Deco designs — and roughly 200 iPods.
“They’re in working order, of course,” Mothes said of the music players, which Apple discontinued in 2022, and which Lagerfeld used to store what deejay Michel Gaubert compiled for his fashion show soundtracks — and whatever else caught his curious ears.
“I was told by one of his assistants that Karl was buying one iPod for each type of music. He did not want to mix the music on them, so this is why he end up with hundreds,” Mothes related.
According to Sotheby’s the latest lots on offer “reveal the extraordinary breadth and discipline of his creative practice” and reflect “an insatiably curious mind, collecting images, references and inspirations with near-obsessive dedication…Lagerfeld delighted in cataloguing, archiving and accumulating, as much as he did in creating.”
