Becoming Karl Lagerfeld review – an absolute feast for the eyes

Becoming Karl Lagerfeld review – an absolute feast for the eyes

Gorgeous gowns, extravagant chateaus, beautiful period styling: this biopic of one of fashion’s most distinctive icons is a visual feast. Even if it is a fairly slight portrait

A common criticism of those attending the Met gala is their failure to adhere to the theme. The internet was appalled by many interpretations of 2019’s theme of “camp”, and this year Anna Wintour apologised for making it too confusing with “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”. But 2023’s Karl Lagerfeld theme was adhered to with aplomb. Lagerfeld was such a distinctive figure that from the fingerless gloves, pearls, sunglasses and black and white tailoring to his beloved Birman cat Choupette, there was ample inspiration for attendees to make themselves unmistakably Lagerfeldian. And while Daniel Brühl, the star of Disney+’s Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, bears little resemblance to the German designer, he too compellingly embodies one of fashion’s most distinctive icons.

As the title suggests, this is an origin story rather than a biopic and its six episodes span the era before he became head designer at Chanel. It starts in 1972, when Karl is a social butterfly and freelance designer in Paris, picking up work for Fendi and Chloé and navigating the “nest of vipers” that is the 1970s fashion industry. As well as having grand ambitions for himself, he has a bitter rivalry with Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), made all the more complicated by their competing affection for the dashing young writer Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin).

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