20th February 2019 - Aina Matamoros

19th February 2019. This date will remain marked in my calendar for being the day in which we lost the best designer of the moment: Karl Lagerfeld.

 

“Phoebe Philo for Chanel”, said one of my co-workers as I was returning to my desk after a meeting. Immediately I answered showing my disapproval “You’re kidding, right?”, and he said, “Yes but FYI, Karl is death”. And I just could not believe it. I thought he was still kidding, but he was not. I felt so sad. I sat down to quickly checked my inbox and there it was: The Business of Fashion - BREAKING | Karl Lagerfeld Dies in Paris Aged 85. If BoF said it, it meant it was really happening. And then, it hit me: I was never going to be able to meet him, I was never going to have the chance to even see him in the distance, I was never going to be able to work for him, I was never going to reach one of my dreams (I know it sounds so dramatic but I really felt – and still feel - that way).

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Karl was, and is, my favorite designer. He was a fashion genius able to design for three very different brands: the classic and glamorous Chanel, the traditional and elegant Fendi and his own label Karl Lagerfeld, rebellious and daring. He had the power to remain loyal to each brand’s values through the clothes he designed and the concepts he created behind every collection. He was able to find inspiration to create unique concepts for more than ten different collections a year, ranging from prêt-à-porter to Haute Couture, going through the resort, cruise and accessory lines.

 

His designs were so perfect and a fantasy for every woman that we all wanted to wear them. Actually, wearing a Karl’s design (from Chanel, Fendi or his brand) was the ultimate goal of every fashion victim and every person who works in this world – and whoever says the contrary is either not telling the truth or has a serious problem of good taste and has to absolutely abandon fashion right away. Karl made art and he will be deeply missed.

 

Chanel is my favorite fashion brand, not just Karl’s but amongst all of them. I love Coco Chanel’s designs and concepts behind every cloth she designed. I really think she was unique and nobody is ever going to design like her but Karl managed to relive the brand and kept up with Gabrielle’s legacy, style and view of fashion during all these years.

 

Or at least he made us think he was doing it. I look at Karl’s designs for Chanel and I can imagine Coco being the one creating them. They emit the essence and the statements she wanted for a woman to have while wearing one of her pieces. You could rule the world by just putting on one of Chanel’s designs, both from Coco and Karl.

 

I never met Karl and I never will. I just knew things about him from reading and watching interviews and two the documentaries that really made me love Chanel and its Haute Couture work: Inside Chanel and 7 Days Out: Chanel Haute Couture Fashion Show. Thanks to these two films, I really learned who he was and what Chanel was, what was behind every design and what it all means.

 

Going back to the moment I found out he was dead and the fact that I was never going to be able to meet him (real FOMO here), I knew I had to do something else to keep growing professionally and take a next step in my career in fashion. So I decided to start a blog. I love writing and my dream and goal is to become a fashion writer or editor in some magazine or site where I am able to talk about fashion and express my fresh, young and strong ideas about the news in this industry to make them count and feel that we young professionals also have a spot inside this world.

 

Here, I will talk about designers, fashion shows, new trends (and old ones that must die), models, fast fashion and luxury brands, styling, magazines and any industry news that I find relevant to share and express my opinion about it. I may also write about other passions I have, such as traveling or nature. This will be a place where I show what I know and what I think about my professional sector, and I want to use it as a tool to grow and reach my career goals (in a personal and professional level).

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I just want to finish with some words by Coco Chanel and that really sum up my opinion about fashion and the reason it is one of my passions and I decided to work on it:

 

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."

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"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different." 

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- Aina