Editing Karl Lagerfeld (section)

===Early career, Chloé, and Fendi (1954–1982)===
In 1954, Lagerfeld submitted a dress design to the [[International Wool Secretariat]]'s design competition.<ref name="Mulvagh">{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |location=London, England |page=189 |chapter=1946-1956 |quote=In 1954 the young Karl Lagerfeld's entry in a competition organized by the Wool Secretariat was the epitome of the youthful chemise. The style that was to be abbreviated in the sixties had arrived.}}</ref> His submitted entry presaged the chemise dresses which would be introduced by [[Hubert de Givenchy|Givenchy]] and [[Cristobal Balenciaga|Balenciaga]] three years later.<ref name="Mulvagh" /> In 1955, Lagerfeld entered another IWS competition and won in the coat category.<ref>{{cite web |title=Karl Lagerfeld&nbsp;– Creative Director, Chanel, Fendi & Karl Lagerfeld |url=https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/karl-lagerfeld |access-date=19 February 2019 |publisher=BoF 500}}</ref> He also befriended another winner, [[Yves Saint Laurent (designer)|Yves Saint Laurent]], and was soon after hired by [[Pierre Balmain]] who was a judge for the competition.<ref name="Biog">{{cite web |date=2 April 2014 |title=Karl Lagerfeld Biography |url=https://www.biography.com/people/karl-lagerfeld-9371367 |access-date=19 February 2019 |website=The Bibliography.com website |publisher=A&E Television Networks}}</ref> He worked as Balmain's assistant, and later apprentice, for three years.<ref name="Biog" />

In 1957, Lagerfeld became the artistic director for [[Jean Patou]].<ref name=Harpers19>{{Cite magazine| last = Mackelden| first =Amy| title = Karl Lagerfeld's Career Was Unlike Anyone Else's |magazine=Harper's Bazaar | access-date = 19 December 2023 | date = 22 February 2019| url = https://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/designers/g26415353/karl-lagerfeld-career-timeline/}}</ref> He left Jean Patou in 1962, to become a freelance designer,<ref>{{Cite news| last = Banks| first = Libby| title = The Life And Times Of Karl Lagerfeld |work=Vogue Business| access-date = 19 December 2023 | date = 19 February 2019 | url = https://www.voguebusiness.com/fashion/the-life-and-times-of-karl-lagerfeld}}</ref> one of the first designers to do so.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Alario Avery | first = Laura| title = The Life And Times Of Karl Lagerfeld |work=InStyle | access-date = 19 December 2023| date = 25 April 2023| url = https://www.instyle.com/karl-lagerfeld-career-timeline-7483544 }}</ref> In the 1960s, he freelanced for brands including [[Charles Jourdan]], [[Chloé]], [[Krizia]], [[Valentino (fashion house)|Valentino]],<ref name=Harpers19/>  and for the Rome-based fashion house Tiziani.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Lo | first = Danica| title =1960s Archive of Karl Lagerfeld Sketches for Elizabeth Taylor Will Be Auctioned in Palm Beach on January 11 |work=Glamour | access-date = 19 December 2023| date = 6 January 2014| url = https://www.glamour.com/story/1960s-archive-of-karl-lagerfel }}</ref>  In 1965, he was hired by [[Fendi]] to modernize their fur line. The fashion editor of ''[[The Independent]]'', Alexander Fury, wrote in 2015 that Lagerfeld's designs for Fendi were innovative and proved groundbreaking within the industry. These included the introduction of less expensive furs such as rabbit and squirrel pelts into high fashion, and launching a ready-to-wear line. He also designed the brand's double F logo.<ref>{{Cite news| last =Fury| first = Alexander | title =Karl Lagerfeld's 50 years at Fendi: New book celebrates fashion's record-breaking marriage  |work=The Independent (UK) | access-date = 19 December 2023| date = 12 May 2015| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/karl-lagerfeld-s-50-years-at-fendi-new-book-celebrates-fashion-s-recordbreaking-marriage-10234405.html }}</ref> Lagerfeld remained with Fendi Rome until his death.<ref name=Harpers19/>

In 1966, Lagerfeld became a designer for [[Chloé]] working alongside [[Gaby Aghion]], and in 1974 he became the sole designer for the brand.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 April 2023 |title=The Lagerfeld Looks That Defined a Career (and Remade Fashion) |work=The New York Times |language=en |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/fashion/karl-lagerfeld-chanel-fendi-hm.html#:~:text=In%201954,%20Mr.,still%20in%20his%2020s,%20Mr. |access-date=9 August 2023 |last1=Friedman |first1=Vanessa }}</ref> In the 1970s, Lagerfeld's work for [[Chloé]] made him one of the most prominent designers in the world,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |author-link=Bernadine Morris|title=At the Paris Shows, Lots of Smoke but Not Much Fire |journal=The New York Times |date=3 April 1973 |page=38 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/04/03/archives/at-the-paris-shows-lots-of-smoke-but-not-much-fire.html |access-date=28 February 2022 |quote=Karl Lagerfeld...is hailed as the ready-to‐wear world's major talent...}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=At Lagerfeld's Paris Show, the 18th Century Goes Modern |journal=The New York Times |date=29 March 1977 |page=41 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/03/29/archives/at-lagerfelds-paris-show-the-18th-century-goes-modern.html |access-date=27 March 2022 |quote=...[T]he most inventive designer in Paris...}}</ref> often vying with [[Yves Saint Laurent (designer)|Yves Saint Laurent]] for most influential.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Fashion Talk |journal=The New York Times |date=9 May 1975 |page=41 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/09/archives/fashion-talk-nothing-to-get-alarmed-about-on-seventh-ave.html |access-date=6 March 2022 |quote=...[I]t has been interesting to notice Karl Lagerfeld replacing Yves Saint Laurent as the favorite mentor of some American designers.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Exuberance Ruled French Fashion Week |journal=The New York Times |date=28 October 1977 |page=A18 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/28/archives/exuberance-ruled-french-fashion-week.html |access-date=27 March 2022 |quote=The most‐applauded collections...were those of the giants, Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe and Yves Saint Laurent.}}</ref> After a period in the early seventies when he toyed with styles from the 1930s,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=At Paris Shows, the Fabric is Flowing |journal=The New York Times |date=3 April 1974 |page=48 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/03/archives/at-paris-shows-the-fabric-is-flowing-special-to-the-new-york-times.html |access-date=10 February 2022 |quote=Karl Lagerfeld for Chloé['s]...long‐term obsession with the nineteen‐thirties...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |page=297 |chapter=1968-1975 |quote=Between 1969 and 1972 Karl Lagerfeld's work for Chloé was clearly influenced by the art deco collection he was amassing.}}</ref> '40s,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Paris Report: Last Winter's Wardrobe Need Not Go to Thrift Shop – Yet |journal=The New York Times |date=1971-04-24 |page=34 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/04/24/archives/paris-report-last-winters-wardrobe-need-not-go-to-thrift-shop-yet.html?searchResultPosition=11 |access-date=2024-08-24 |quote=...Forties...shoulders...turn up [at]...Karl Lagerfeld of Chloe...}}</ref> and '50s,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Valentino – Quiet but Beguiling, Tailored but Feminine |journal=The New York Times |date=23 July 1971 |page=38 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/23/archives/valentino-quiet-but-beguiling-tailored-but-feminine.html |access-date=22 June 2022 |quote=...Fendi...was designed by Karl Lagerfeld...Guess what he brought back? Tiny‐waisted fur coats with flaring skirts, that's what. Also Bermuda shorts and pedal-pushers and—get this — saddle shoes.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=At the Paris Shows, Lots of Smoke but Not Much Fire |journal=The New York Times |date=3 April 1973 |page=38 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/04/03/archives/at-the-paris-shows-lots-of-smoke-but-not-much-fire.html |access-date=28 February 2022 |quote=Chloe's Karl Lagerfeld...worked himself up from the 1940s to the 1950s.}}</ref> in 1974 he contributed to the burgeoning [[1970s in fashion#The Big Look or Soft Look|Big Look]] or Soft Look by eliminating linings, padding, and even hemming from voluminous, thin-fabric garments, even from fur in his work for Fendi at the time,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |page=300 |chapter=1968-1975 |quote=Lagerfeld insisted that the underside of the pelts be stripped down to the very thinnest layer needed to support the pile, and by softening and treating the underside, made it unnecessary to line the garment.}}</ref> to enable an unencumbered, comfortable, layered style which would dominate the high fashion of the middle of the decade.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=At Paris Shows, the Fabric is Flowing |journal=The New York Times |date=3 April 1974 |page=48 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/03/archives/at-paris-shows-the-fabric-is-flowing-special-to-the-new-york-times.html |access-date=10 February 2022 |quote=The difference with Lagerfeld's things is that all inner construction, and practically all seams, have been eliminated, meaning no linings, no interfacing, not even any turned‐under hems—the fabric has simply been cut off at the bottom.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=A Designer Gets Ahead of Himself |journal=The New York Times |date=21 September 1976 |page=56 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/21/archives/a-designer-gets-ahead-of-himself.html |access-date=27 March 2022 |quote=A designer's designer, he is watched carefully for his innovations, which are as technical as finding ways to avoid linings, eliminating seams whenever possible and finishing hems with overcast stitches instead of turned‐under hems. All this in the interest of keeping clothes light and fluid.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina S. |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Paris Looks: Casanova to Puss 'n' Boots |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=29 March 1977 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/03/29/paris-looks-casanova-to-puss-n-boots/c731ec09-f529-4ca8-ab22-ae7fdeb5647f/ |access-date=10 February 2022 |quote=It was Lagerfeld who first took the shaping and the linings out of clothes...He also removed hemlines entirely to make clothes lighter and more easily layered.}}</ref>

After refining this style and saying that to go back to linings and stiff structure would be regressive,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina S. |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Paris Looks: Casanova to Puss 'n' Boots |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=29 March 1977 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/03/29/paris-looks-casanova-to-puss-n-boots/c731ec09-f529-4ca8-ab22-ae7fdeb5647f/ |access-date=10 February 2022 |quote='[Y]ou cannot go back to lined clothing, because...clothes today must be light and loose'.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=A Designer Gets Ahead of Himself |journal=The New York Times |date=21 September 1976 |page=56 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/21/archives/a-designer-gets-ahead-of-himself.html |access-date=27 March 2022 |quote=[H]e went on. 'You can't have bones and wires...If we go back to linings, then we are returning to the way things were, not looking ahead'.}}</ref> he did a complete about-face in 1978<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Impresarios of Fashion Preside at Les Halles |journal=The New York Times |date=10 April 1979 |page=C12 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/10/archives/impresarios-of-fashion-preside-at-les-halles-lovely-inventive.html |access-date=15 December 2021 |quote=Until [fall 1978], [Lagerfeld] did a lot of soft, contemporary clothes. They didn't impose their shape on the wearer. He simplified construction so the fabric just seemed to flow across the body.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina S. |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Mickey and Minnie on the Paris Runway |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=10 April 1979 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/04/10/mickey-and-minnie-on-the-paris-runway/6effe4d3-338a-4458-98e8-295b059a0515/ |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote='Women have gotten too sloppy in loose, oversized clothes. They've become too careless about themselves and they are no longer attractive,' he said...}}</ref> and joined other designers in showing the heavily constructed, [[shoulder pads (fashion)#Fall 1978|huge-shouldered]], more restrictive looks<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=The Directions of the Innovators |journal=The New York Times |date=27 February 1983 |page=132 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/27/magazine/the-directions-of-the-innovators.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=[Azzedine Alaïa, Claude Montana, Thierry Mugler, Jean-Paul Gaultier, i]n these designers' collections, waistlines are usually taut, heels are high,...and, while the designers generally deny it, many of the clothes are restrictive.}}</ref> that would dominate the 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Karl Lagerfeld, the Designer Setting Fashion's Tempo |journal=The New York Times |date=21 May 1979 |page=B6 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/21/archives/karl-lagerfeld-the-designer-setting-fashions-tempo-it-was-time-for.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=Then, abruptly, came the change to a slimmer, more fitted look...padded shoulders, belted waistlines and narrow skirts...which was immediately dubbed 'retro' and sent other designers back to the 1950s...What made him change?...'The loose, layered look simply became messy,' he said. 'Free‐flowing clothes looked sloppy'.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Impresarios of Fashion Preside at Les Halles |journal=The New York Times |date=10 April 1979 |page=C12 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/10/archives/impresarios-of-fashion-preside-at-les-halles-lovely-inventive.html |access-date=10 February 2022 |quote=Now, [Lagerfeld is] involved in something called shape. That means sleeves that curve outward like melons; the melon shape is repeated in many skirts. Cavalier jackets have peplums that jut out sharply from tightly belted waistlines. Carry on this line of reasoning and you...also have bustles. Yes, bustles.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=At Fashion Parties, a Debut for Spring |journal=The New York Times |date=16 February 1979 |page=A24 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/16/archives/at-fashion-parties-a-debut-for-spring-shaking-up-his-viewers.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=Some were stunned by what they saw paraded before them: the above‐the-knee hemlines, the obviously padded shoulders, even on sweaters, the draped‐to‐one-side skirts with ruffled embellishment.}}</ref> He presented such an exaggerated retro 1940s–50s silhouette<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina S. |title=Fashion Carnival |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=10 April 1978 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/04/11/fashion-carnival/68dda763-3a64-4dc3-8bcc-063084ab0031/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |quote=His message is clear. He likes structured clothes with big shoulders, small waists, usually rounded a bit over the hips and tapered to the hem.}}</ref> – immense shoulder pads;<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina S. |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=European Fashions, Round Two |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=7 April 1978 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/04/07/european-fashions-round-two/cc072539-8875-4bd5-836a-448d64d4730c/ |access-date=1 March 2022 |quote=[Lagerfeld] started with football shoulder padding, since that was what he first found to use, scaling it down to wearable proportion.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Donovan |first1=Carrie |title=Why the Big Change Now |journal=The New York Times |date=12 November 1978 |page=226 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/12/archives/why-the-big-change-now.html |access-date=15 November 2021 |quote=...[Karl Lagerfeld's] current fall collection is one of the most outrageous in its thrust of broad padded shoulders and aggressive sexiness.}}</ref> severe, stiffly constructed suits<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina S. |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Mickey and Minnie on the Paris Runway |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=10 April 1979 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/04/10/mickey-and-minnie-on-the-paris-runway/6effe4d3-338a-4458-98e8-295b059a0515/ |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=...Lagerfeld...revived...the peplum suit with the narrow skirt....Now he has taken shapeliness one step further, rounding out the sleeve. Sometimes he uses padding to get the croissant or horn-of-plenty shaping...}}</ref> with padded lampshade peplums;<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina S. |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Fashion Notes |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=5 November 1978 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/11/05/fashion-notes/284a67cb-b096-45ee-8786-a2ec4745a9d8/ |access-date=27 March 2022 |quote=Karl Lagerfeld sometimes pads the peplum to exaggerate the tiny waist and rounded hip look.}}</ref> padded busts<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Karl Lagerfeld, the Designer Setting Fashion's Tempo |journal=The New York Times |date=21 May 1979 |page=B6 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/21/archives/karl-lagerfeld-the-designer-setting-fashions-tempo-it-was-time-for.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=His widely copied 'bustier'...has a foam base...}}</ref> and hips;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Donovan |first1=Carrie |title=Fashion View: American Designers Come of Age |journal=The New York Times |date=6 May 1979 |page=254 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/06/archives/fashion-view-american-designers-come-of-age-fashion.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=It was Lagerfeld who originally introduced the current [1979] silhouette of broad shoulders, nipped waist, curvy hip and short skirt.}}</ref> impractically tight skirts;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Impresarios of Fashion Preside at Les Halles |journal=The New York Times |date=10 April 1979 |page=C12 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/10/archives/impresarios-of-fashion-preside-at-les-halles-lovely-inventive.html |access-date=10 February 2022 |quote=...hobble skirts that are impossible to walk in...}}</ref> awkwardly high spike heels;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Impresarios of Fashion Preside at Les Halles |journal=The New York Times |date=10 April 1979 |page=C12 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/10/archives/impresarios-of-fashion-preside-at-les-halles-lovely-inventive.html |access-date=10 February 2022 |quote=[His models'] shoes had triangular-shaped, attenuated heels that threw their bodies out of line and made them walk with their rear ends sticking out awkwardly, not provocatively.}}</ref> hats;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=At Fashion Parties, a Debut for Spring |journal=The New York Times |date=16 February 1979 |page=A24 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/16/archives/at-fashion-parties-a-debut-for-spring-shaking-up-his-viewers.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=...hats the size of phonograph records tilted precariously to one side...}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina S. |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Mickey and Minnie on the Paris Runway |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=10 April 1979 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/04/10/mickey-and-minnie-on-the-paris-runway/6effe4d3-338a-4458-98e8-295b059a0515/ |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=Lagerfeld loves...huge face-framing, fan-shaped hats...}}</ref> gloves; even boned corsets<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Duka |first1=John |title=Paris is Yesterday |journal=New York |date=13 November 1978 |volume=11 |issue=46 |page=112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OACAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22france+andrevie%22+1978laurent&pg=PA111 |access-date=11 December 2021 |quote=Lagerfeld...has brought back the Merry Widow corselet, whalebone stays and all.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina S. |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Hourglass for Spring |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=25 October 1978 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/10/25/hourglass-for-spring/fb5e27a6-f77c-4b82-b31d-dda8447a8ab9/ |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=...Karl Lagerfeld's strapless tops were boned and lined with fiberfill.}}</ref> – that his work did not look out of place alongside similar retro fare from [[Thierry Mugler]] of the period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Donovan |first1=Carrie |title=Fashion View: American Designers Come of Age |journal=The New York Times |date=6 May 1979 |page=254 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/06/archives/fashion-view-american-designers-come-of-age-fashion.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=There has been a significant change in the fashion silhouette, one that started in an exaggerated way last fall when shoulders buffaloed out, skirt lengths went up, and clothes began pulling in to the body...even more exaggerated...in the cases of Parisian designers Karl Lagerfeld, Claude Montana and Thierry Mugler...}}</ref>

During both these phases, his mid-seventies Soft Look phase and his late seventies-eighties big-shoulders phase, his love of the eighteenth century was frequently on display.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Karl Lagerfeld, the Designer Setting Fashion's Tempo |journal=The New York Times |date=21 May 1979 |page=B6 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/21/archives/karl-lagerfeld-the-designer-setting-fashions-tempo-it-was-time-for.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=Lagerfeld...has had an almost lifelong preoccupation with...the 18th century}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Russell |first1=Mary |title=Fall Fashion Preview |journal=The New York Times |date=2 April 1978 |page=SM19 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/02/archives/fall-fashion-preview-strong-pointers-from-paris-fall-fashion.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=Karl Lagerfeld for Chloë is enamored of 18th‐century glamour...}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |editor1-last=Finley |editor1-first=Ruth |title=Paris Projects Full & Floating or Slim & Languid in Ready-to-Wear |journal=Fashion International |date=1 November 1974 |volume=III |issue=2 |page=1 |publisher=FI Publications, Inc. |location=New York, NY, USA |quote=...18th Century shepherdess dresses (Chloe)...}}</ref> For instance, his Fall 1977 collection, one of the most celebrated of the seventies Soft Look era, included lace trim, headwear, and thigh-high boots in styles from the 1700s,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Peake |first1=Andy |title=Made for Walking |date=2018 |publisher=Schiffer Fashion Press |location=Atglen, Pennsylvania |isbn=978-0-7643-5499-1 |pages=117 |chapter=The New Ease in Fashion |quote=Lagerfeld...decided to produce a collection based on...eighteenth-century costumes...So we have broad-brimmed Cavalier hats, capes, velvet and satin breeches, lace-trimmed blouses, and lots of swaggering over-the-knee boots.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Chloe and Chanel Show Fall Styles in New York |journal=The New York Times |date=1 October 1977 |page=39 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/01/archives/chloe-and-chanel-show-fall-styles-in-new-york.html |access-date=22 June 2022 |quote=The designer has long had a predilection for the 18th century, and the thigh‐high boots, cavalier blouses and loose smock dresses he made for fall seemed at home...}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=At Lagerfeld's Paris Show, the 18th Century Goes Modern |journal=The New York Times |date=29 March 1977 |page=41 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/03/29/archives/at-lagerfelds-paris-show-the-18th-century-goes-modern.html |access-date=1 December 2021 |quote=...Karl Lagerfeld...can fill a collection with 18th‐century elements and come up with completely contemporary clothes.}}</ref> while his Fall 1979 collection, one of the most influential of the early years of the big-shoulder era,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Donovan |first1=Carrie |title=American Designers Come of Age |journal=The New York Times |date=6 May 1979 |page=254 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/06/archives/fashion-view-american-designers-come-of-age-fashion.html |access-date=1 December 2021 |quote=It was Lagerfeld who originally introduced the current silhouette of broad shoulders, nipped waist, curvy hip and short skirt.}}</ref> contained millinery that recalled Napoleonic [[bicorne]]s, along with button-sided spats/leggings that looked somewhat like military accoutrements from the same period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Impresarios of Fashion Preside at Les Halles |journal=The New York Times |date=10 April 1979 |page=C12 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/10/archives/impresarios-of-fashion-preside-at-les-halles-lovely-inventive.html |access-date=1 December 2021 |quote=Mr. Lagerfeld put on his models stiff cardboard‐looking headdresses that rose like half‐moons over their skinned-back hair. And he gave them black satin or patent‐leather leggings edged in silver piping and fastened with silver buttons.}}</ref>

Lagerfeld continued producing outfits in the shoulder pads-tight skirts-stiletto heels direction into the eighties, joining other similar designers in shortening the skirts of the look even as high as [[Miniskirt#1980s and 1990s|mini length]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina S. |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Skirting the Mini |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=16 October 1979 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/10/16/skirting-the-mini/116559c2-8d45-46fa-a5b5-6ed9c0008f36/ |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=Karl Lagerfeld, who designs for Chloe, showed the shortest miniskirts....[H]is minis with padded shoulders...are a breed apart....His minis...were served up in three categories: a single layer that barely covered the fanny, and double-tiered and triple-tiered skirts that still stopped above the knee.}}</ref> though his hemlines could also range as low as the ankle.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=How Paris Kept Position in Fashion |journal=The New York Times |date=14 April 1981 |page=B19 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/14/style/how-paris-kept-position-in-fashion.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=...[V]ery short as well as very long skirts were represented.}}</ref> Alongside these styles, he also showed softer, more comfortable clothing, particularly in 1981–'82, when a brief revival of somewhat mid-seventies-looking long dirndl skirts and shawls appeared on runways<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Notes on Fashion |journal=The New York Times |date=6 October 1981 |page=B8 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/06/style/notes-on-fashion.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=...the new Long and Strong look – long skirts, shawls, wrap coats and lots of layers.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Costumes from Classics |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=6 April 1981 |volume=6 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/04/06/costumes-from-classics/4f933eb2-a477-4d1d-8086-f59dcb0e142e/ |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=...French styles...are longer, fuller and more layered once again.}}</ref> and Lagerfeld touted the gossamer weightlessness he had perfected in the seventies,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Skirting the Classics |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=9 April 1981 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/04/09/skirting-the-classics/0758b1e0-8b1d-4be9-a90c-369ca6be365c/ |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote= 'It is not the old layering,' insists Karl Lagerfeld. 'It is weightless volume. Volume for movement, not for weight'.}}</ref> although he did like to place corsets and girdles over it by that time.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Duka |first1=John |title=Notes on Fashion |journal=The New York Times |date=20 October 1981 |page=C7 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/20/style/notes-on-fashion.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=Lagerfeld has reintroduced the corset, in a version unappealingly severe...}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Bernadine |title=Ungaro and Lagerfeld Brighten Paris Showings |journal=The New York Times |date=19 October 1981 |page=B10 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/19/style/ungaro-and-lagerfeld-brighten-paris-showings.html |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=...[A]lmost every outfit, from supple knitted dress to unconstructed jacket, had wrapped around its waist a wide corselet belt which used to be called a waist-nipper.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=The Wages of Skin |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=18 October 1982 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1982/10/18/the-wages-of-skin/891641ff-c2f9-4d51-adfc-dbbf8f7ff82a/ |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=...Lagerfeld has redesigned the girdle. It looks a bit like those back-support girdles sold by mail order from the backs of magazines. But these are often leather and stretch combined. Lagerfeld's girdle, which he puts over everything, including evening dresses, rises a bit above the waist but the emphasis is clearly over the hips.}}</ref> The variety of lengths and trouser shapes he presented during this period kept him in line with modern women's needs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Hips! Shoulders! Knees! |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=21 October 1982 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1982/10/21/hips-shoulders-kneessexy-seams-slink-back-into-vogue-as-yves-celebrates-two-decades/631ec44b-c740-4835-acad-0fed3a3ba208/ |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote='It would make no more sense to make a collection without pants anymore than a collection without skirts,' laughed Karl Lagerfeld at Chloé.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nina |author-link=Nina Hyde |title=Costumes from Classics |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=6 April 1981 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/04/06/costumes-from-classics/4f933eb2-a477-4d1d-8086-f59dcb0e142e/ |access-date=4 April 2022 |quote=...Lagerfeld showed what he called his two-step – a skirt or dress over pants...}}</ref>