Tommy Hilfiger Wears Karl Lagerfeld’s Shirt to the Met Gala 2023
For the Met on Monday night, Tommy Hilfiger’s tailor Denis Frison found a vintage Chanel bouclé fabric from which he made the designer a suit in a deep navy, red and white blend. But the real star of the show was the shirt Hilfiger wore: a gift from Karl, from Lagerfeld’s own personal closet.
“It’s one of his famous high collared shirts he had made in England many years ago. And it’s the first time I’ve ever worn a button back shirt, and the first time I will ever have worn a three and a half inch collar,” Hilfiger says. “But it was his own shirt, which is near and dear to me, and one of my favorite treasures. So I’m really excited about it.”
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Hilfiger first met Lagerfeld in 2003 in Paris, and they would go on to become business partners.
“I was in Paris being photographed by Harper’s Bazaar [in 2003]. They were photographing American designers. My session was at about 5:30, 6 o’clock in Karl’s studio. And I was laughing because Karl had, I don’t know, 10 assistants setting up the lighting and the camera and basically spending hours perfecting every shadow. And then Karl would walk up and look through the lens and do a click and then walk away,” Hilfiger says.
“I started laughing about it, and he also joined into the laughter and started saying things like, ‘Oh, my job is very easy. All I have to do is push a button.’ And we just really hit it off from a sense of humor point of view, I guess you could say. He invited me to his home for dinner that night, but I already had dinner plans. So he said, ‘Well, why don’t you come for breakfast tomorrow?’ So I went to his home for breakfast,” he continues. “He gave me a tour of his home, which was incredible. It was on Rue de l’Université, with a beautiful courtyard, and a beautiful limestone building. It was quite spectacular.
“We had a very lengthy breakfast, and the conversation covered a lot of different subjects, but one was him asking me about my business. And I said, ‘Well, we’re a public company, and our board of directors and I are thinking of maybe acquiring another brand.’ And at that moment he said, ‘Buy mine.’ And I said, ‘Explain. What do you mean?’ He said, ‘Buy my Karl Lagerfeld brand.’ I took that idea back to my partners in New York, and we decided to proceed. Within 45 days, we were in a deal to buy the Karl Lagerfeld brand. We set up a studio in New York for Karl. He was very engaged, and he started to rebuild the Karl Lagerfeld brand. It’s since been sold, but it’s now morphed into an affordable, luxury lifestyle brand for the globe. I think Karl would be very proud today.”
MET GALA 2023 WRAP-UP
Behind-the-Scenes:
Getting Ready With Mindy Kaling
Behind the Scenes With Marion Cotillard
Inside the Carlyle Hotel Departures
Inside the Mark Hotel Lobby Ahead of the Met Gala
Met Gala Battle of the Kitties
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