What do you get when you combine Karl Lagerfeld and Net-A-Porter? A fashion-forward, androgynous (and surprisingly affordable) new collection. ‘KARL’ is being launched today (Thursday 26), in a coordinated global promotion that includes some of the top fashion cities; Paris, London, New York, Berlin and our very own, Sydney.
Reportedly Sydney was chosen as a launch city (over other fashion capitals, such as Milan) because Australians are among the biggest online shoppers in the world.
The designer, who is also the creative director for Chanel and Fendi, is launching ‘KARL’ exclusively to Net-A-Porter for four weeks. The collection is uber sleek and uses a monochromatic palette, with a Rock ‘n’ Roll/Biker Glam edge. When viewing the collection our fashion editor particularly loved how he has mixed textures and fabric, including leather, sequins and pleats, to achieve a dishevelled, yet luxe feel.
The androgynous line includes some of Lagerfeld’s trademark items, such as fingerless gloves. Even though it incorporates signature Lagerfeld pieces, the collection is extremely affordable, with the gloves retailing at $55 and jeans for under $250. Net-A-Porter will be offering over 70 different pieces from the collection in the next four weeks, including draped jersey dresses, classic pants, sweatshirts, skirts, t-shirts, shoes and bags.
The Australian launch will take place in Sydney at 12pm today at the Window shop on Campbell Parade, Bondi. Simultaneously, Lagerfeld himself will officially opening a mysterious cube that appeared last Friday in Place Saint-Germain-Des-Pres, Paris. Reportedly the cube will contain previously unseen film footage as well as opportunities to shop the range and win items from ‘KARL’.
At the five pop-up window shops around the world, customers using the Net-A-Porter KARL app can shop and win by scanning products using their iPhone or iPad2. In addition, some visitors to the window shops will receive limited edition ‘KARL’ goodie bags and t-shirts, with the first 50 customers receiving a pair of ‘KARL’ leather gloves or a collar from the new collection.
Our fashion editors attended the media preview on Tuesday January 24, and confirmed that the collection in amazing. At the media launch they had the opportunity to pick their favourite pieces from the line and style a look (
madison’s look pictured above).
Sinead Allen Shea,
madison’s contributing fashion editor, described the collection as “really representative of Karl’s aesthetic but with a feminine edge. It was great to see everything up close, because the fabrics and the detailing are incredible. There were so many must have key pieces, from sequin trousers to pencil skirts to a dreamy silver blouse.”
“One of the standout pieces was the tuxedo suit which we shot on the model alongside Karl’s signature style gloves; the cut was perfect on the model. Strong shoulders and double breasted it is such a timeless piece.”
One thing’s for sure, Net-A-Porter will be seeing a lot of online traffic in the next four weeks.
The model wears Trousers $330, Jacket, $500, Collar $126, Gloves $56 from the ‘KARL’ collection (all prices are approximate).
Visit net-a-porter/karl for more information.
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