Kaia Gerber and Karl Lagerfeld Co-Host Paris Launch Party for Capsule

IT TAKES TWO: Karl Lagerfeld arrived fashionably late to his own party on the last day of Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday night for the final stop-off of a series of events celebrating the launch of his collaboration with Kaia Gerber. A party was held at the Revolve Social Club in Los Angeles on Aug. 30, with Gerber making an in-store appearance at the Karl Lagerfeld flagship at 420 West Broadway in New York on Sept. 12.

For the Paris leg, the house took over a h?tel particulier on rue Saint-Guillaume in the city’s 7th arrondissement. The site, like the collection, mixed a California vibe — think palm trees and trompe l’oeil windows looking onto Malibu beach at sunset – with nods to Lagerfeld’s world, including floor-to-ceiling projections of the designer’s private library on the walls of one of the rooms. Lagerfeld and Gerber-shaped balloons filled the corridors.

Lagerfeld’s nearest and dearest turned out for the event, including pet models Brad Kroenig and Baptiste Giabiconi; the designer’s grandson, Hudson Kroenig, and his longtime studio heads at Chanel and his namesake brand, Virginie Viard and Anita Briey.

Giabiconi said he was impressed by the collection. “It’s fresh, young and dynamic. What’s more, she’s the daughter of Cindy Crawford. She’s only 17 and has a very bright future,” he said.

Briey, who sported a brooch in the form of a pair of scissors – a gift from Lagerfeld – checked out pieces from the capsule with an expert eye. “It’s very modern, very nice,” she said.

The seamstress, who is now retired, cut her teeth at age 16 as a petite main at Chanel in 1955, working under Gabrielle Chanel. She joined Lagerfeld at Chloé in 1966, going on to work for him for 42 years.

She described Lagerfeld as the “crème de la crème” of mentors. “I’ve had a dream life, thank you Karl,” she said. “He is a genius, he is deeply knowledgeable and incredibly generous. His one negative trait? He is late for everything.”

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