KARL LAGERFELD A LIFE IN HOUSES

While Karl Lagerfeld was famous for being at the very centre of the fashion industry for over half a century, he was equally opinionated when it came to interiors, which acted as a private creative outlet alongside his fashion designs.Following an overview by Patrick Mauri`s, each house is introduced by a short text by Marie Kalt unveiling its history and identifying key designers and pieces. The homes are documented by date, beginning with rare photography of Lagerfeld`s early addresses in the 1960s and 1970s, through to his final house purchase in 2009. From the elegant Art-Deco inspired apartment in Saint-Sulpice, Paris, to the incredibly ornate 18th-century mansion, Htel Pozzo di Borgo (his muse and collaborator Amanda Harlech described Lagerfeld as having `a Versailles complex`) ` Lagerfeld`s houses reveal he was a collector of a Renaissance scale, and showed spectacular range in his decorating styles. Lagerfeld would balance the old with the new, humorously describing the minimalist decor of his 200-year old apartment in Quai Voltaire, Paris as `like floating in your own spaceship over a very civilised past`, and moved from one atmosphere to the next, leaving a Memphis-designed apartment in Monte Carlo for a Grand-Tour themed Roman pied-`-terre, followed by bucolic French country houses and even a majestic Nordic villa in his native Hamburg.Presented in a large, elegant format, Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Houses will be a rich source of inspiration for those interested in interior design, and will appeal to fans of the decorative arts and the fashion designer himself.