Lady LUX

Karl Lagerfeld is taking a break from fashion traditionalism. The designer has announced he will not be showing his line at Paris Fashion Week. He also reported that he is in the middle of talks of designing a more “commercial,” lower-priced line, which he refers to as “mass elitism.” In addition, instead of walking the catwalk, ladies will model his ready-to-wear looks online, where they will be sold exclusively.

In a conversation with WWD, Lagerfeld was frank about his fashion stance.

“I prefer to work in another way. I can’t compete with Chanel,” he said. “I don’t want to be the poor child of myself. This has been my vision for years.”

While the collection is aimed at women, it has a blend of everything – including sportswear and menswear.

“It will be something affordable for lots of people,” he told WWD.

Although the new line will be lower priced and more mass marketed, it will still be sold in showrooms in Milan and Paris. Christian Stahl, Apax partner and owner of Karl Lagerfeld SAS, didn’t knock down the option of taking his lines back to the runway.

Instead of just sticking to one gig, Lagerfeld believes that the polarities of investment pieces and disposable fashion are where the market lies, and nothing in between.

“My dream is to do very expensive lines like Chanel and Fendi, and very inexpensive things,” he said. “I don’t believe in anything in between…Today people wear T-shirts and jeans with exceptional things.”
The new line is expected to debut fall 2010.

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