The Met Gala is around the corner! Here are my thoughts & predictions

The theme is "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" with the dress code simply: “in honour of Karl.”

This year’s Met Gala is swiftly approaching, taking place on Monday, May 1. Fashion’s biggest night will celebrate the life and legacy of Karl Lagerfeld, the controversial yet legendary German designer who passed away in 2019. Lagerfeld collaborated with several historical giants during his lifetime including Fendi, Andy Warhol, and Chloé before joining forces with Chanel in 1983 and launching his own label the next year.

His Controversial History

Karl’s career was not without controversy. While he found himself in hot water for comments typical for those in the fashion industry, often calling people ugly (did he have a mirror?) or fat, and saying sweatpants were a “sign of defeat.” He said that Heidi Klum was “no runway model,” asserting that she was “is simply too heavy” with “too big a bust.”

Beyond vanity, Lagerfeld also repeatedly criticized the #MeToo movement, saying he was “fed up” with the new societal standards surrounding consent. "What shocks me most in all of this are the starlets who have taken 20 years to remember what happened," he told Numero magazine. "Not to mention the fact there are no prosecution witnesses."

He defended several of his colleagues who were accused of sexual misconduct, including stylist Karl Templer, who was accused of pulling down models' underwear without consent, saying: "If you don't want your pants pulled about, don't become a model! Join a nunnery, there'll always be a place for you in the convent." He also defended Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the director of the International Monetary Fund, who was accused of raping a hotel maid in 2011. Style.com that women "get horny from politics, from power. And he had unbelievable charms. He is really charming. He's fun, he's great. He's a sweet guy — as long as you're not a woman. That's the problem."

Further, he spoke out against Germany’s border policies, telling a French talk show, "One cannot - even if there are decades between them - kill millions of Jews so you can bring millions of their worst enemies in their place.”

He never clarified or apologized for any of his controversial comments.

A look at his career

Karl Lagerfeld Career history

• December 1954: Karl won a coat design competition held by the International Wool Association in Paris, which led to his first job in fashion

• 1955: Becomes Pierre Balmain’s assistant

• 1958: Hired by Jean Patou in 1957 where he spent the next five years on 10 different collections for the fashion house

• The 60s – Karl began to freelance for brands like Valentino

• 1964: Begins collaborating with Chloé

• 1965: Begins collaborating with Fendi as head designer for its ready-to-wear and fur collections until his death. He produced 100+ collections

• 1966: He is named as creative director of Chloé

• 1983: Lagerfeld joins Chanel as creative director “chief artistic director” – responsible for interlocking the C logo as we know it today (took Chanel as a challenge; people thought it was dead and gone)

• 1984: Launched his own label, Karl Lagerfeld

• 1987: He began to dabble in photography in addition to designing

• 2005: He sold his eponymous label to Tommy Hilfiger

• 2010: The Fashion Visionary award from the Couture Council of New York's Fashion Institute of Technology & Commander's Cross of the Legion of Honor (Croix de Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur) by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy in June 2010 

• 2012: KARL by NET-A-Porter

• 2015: Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Fashion Awards

• 2017: Grand Vermeil medal, which is the highest honor in Paris, at Chanel's Fall 2017 couture show

• December 2018: walks the runway for the last time at Chanel's Métiers d’Art 2018/19 show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Lagerfeld walked with godson Hudson Kroenig, and Virginie Viard, who is taking over the designer's role at Chanel.