Logo-laden Karl Lagerfeld; NFT overdrive

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Oct 2, 2021

One of the great ironies of recent fashion history is that the house of Karl Lagerfeld has achieved its greatest appeal and commercial success since the passing of the great designer.

 
That’s a tribute to an astute management team, and also to smart merchandising, which has played  on Lagerfeld’s iconic status with a a good deal of humor. His unique reputation's continued strength has been proven by the huge success of the collectible NFT series launched by the brand that bears his name. 
 
This past week the house dropped the latest NFT digitally rendered avatar of Karl. Playing into the fact that seven was the designer’s lucky number, this animated Karl was made available in a limited run of 300 pieces at a price of 77 euros each. One of the brand’s previous NFT drops sold out in 37 seconds.

This season, when it came to clothes and accessories, logos were pretty much everywhere at Lagerfeld, probably too much so. Especially at a house which has plenty of visual signifiers, from Karl’s German Expressionism-inspired women's silhouettes to his starched, high-collar gentleman’s shirts and his leather mittens.
 
Instead, every inch of every item of athletic-looking underwear – from bra strap to trim – had his name. Backpacks, man-bags, computer cases, holdalls in black nylon or camouflage, all came with the name and address – Karl Lagerfeld, 21 rue Saint Guillaume Paris.
 

Admittedly the house has worked hard on freshening up its monogram canvas – seen in sea blue totes. Though the most catching elements turned out to be the first clothes from a collaborative capsule with 90s uber-model Amber Valletta. This followed on from a series of corrugated, vegan, cactus leather bags that she developed for the house this spring.
 
A few key looks, like the leather bomber worn with pristine cotton shirt-dress, looked very now and very Karl Lagerfeld. And, happily for once, there wasn't a logo in sight.