Vera Wang on Her Favorite Karl Lagerfeld Quote

Leigh Nordstrom

Updated Wed, October 25, 2017 at 12:02 PM UTC

On Tuesday evening at the Pierre Hotel in New York, admirers, colleagues and friends alike of Karl Lagerfeld gathered in the ballroom to celebrate his reception of the John B. Fairchild Honor at the WWD Honors event. Like many, Vera Wang clearly recalls her first time meeting the legendary designer.

“He had just finished Chloe,” she said during the cocktail hour. “I used to be the European editor for American Vogue, so I remember meeting Karl when he was doing Fendi.”

It was then that Lagerfeld gave her what remains her favorite ism of his.

“He gave me a very famous quote that I say to all my design assistants: ‘a mini skirt is but a maxi belt,’” Wang said. “Quote unquote Karl Lagerfeld. How’s that?”

The evening also recognized Marco Bizzarri, president and chief executive officer of Gucci, with the WWD Edward Nardoza Honor for CEO Creative Leadership.

“I remember my mother was a Gucci girl during the Tom Ford era,” said Hari Nef, who just celebrated her 25th birthday with a party at the Campbell Apartment at Grand Central this past weekend. “I remember her Gucci fragrances in addition to she had some killer Gucci heels and I feel like she must’ve had a silk leopard print shirt maybe. She actually ran a designer consignment eBay shop for a time so a lot of her old designer stuff she sold. When I was a teenager I had all this archive Prada and Chanel in our basement. It wasn’t ours, but she was selling it on behalf of some very wealthy local ladies.”

Don't Miss

Vera Wang on Her Favorite Karl Lagerfeld Quote

Recommended articles