It’s been five months since Karl Lagerfeld passed away, yet his memory is still very much alive. After a memorial took place in Paris last month to honour the legacy of the iconic creative director, it seems that a group of his closest (and famous) friends have come together to commemorate what Lagerfeld loved the most (minus his cat Choupette): a white shirt.
‘A Tribute to Karl: The White Shirt Project’ sees Cara Delevingne, Diane Kruger, Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Tommy Hilfiger, Alessandro Michele, Takashi Murakami, Carine Roitfeld and more design their own interpretations of Lagerfeld’s trademark white shirt with a high collar.
The project will be overseen by Roitfeld, who is a style advisor at Lagerfeld’s eponymous fashion house, with all proceeds going to French charity Sauver la Vie, which funds medical research at Paris Descartes University. The designs will then be exhibited during Paris Fashion Week in September at the brand’s headquarters on Rue Saint-Guillaume.
With seven designs in total, each shirt will be replicated 77 times and sold for €777 each. The number is reportedly a reference to the late designer’s favourite number, his favourite arrondissement of Paris and the address of his bookshop on the Rue de Lille.
“The participants in this tribute are all people who Karl knew, who he felt connected to, or who inspired him,” says Pier Paolo Righi, chief executive officer of the Karl Lagerfeld fashion house, who described the white shirt as “a very unique and intimate way of relating back to Karl”.
“After Karl’s passing, so many people wanted to share their admiration for Karl and express their emotions. I can’t imagine a better way for us to celebrate his passion for creativity,” he concludes.