Fittingly, the motif for the attire is “in honour of Karl”. If the goal, as Bolton points out, is to shift the focus on Lagerfeld’s artistry, I’m curious how fashion A-listers will interpret such a dress code. Most people, if we go by history, will unsurprisingly make an ode to iconic Chanel moments, but something tells me that a few may go to the route of irreverence, which, after all, is what the designer is known for.

Lagerfeld had grown a cult following throughout his career spanning over six decades. His is a name that can catapult a fashion house to a meteoric rise in fame and revenue.

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Such impact can be felt until today, especially after the buzz created by Met Gala’s tribute. Lagerfeld-coded Chanel items continue to be sold like hotcakes in the luxury retail industry. In Paris recently, the online resale speciality store Collector Square hosted a sale of items, mostly handbags, designed by the German fashion icon. Osanna Orlowski, the shop’s cofounder, describes Lagerfeld’s products as “sought after,” marvelling at his capacity to elevate classic styles with fresh motifs. Auction house Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr auctioned 350 lots of Lagerfeld’s Chanel items. The auction, named “L’Art du Luxe: Chanel.” is believed to have yielded around USD 13,000 to 15,000.

However, to reduce Karl to mere numbers or sales surges is to misconstrue his impact. He was first and foremost a dressmaker. Where head designers of houses now are called creative directors (which Karl was at one point in his life), Lagerfeld was a designer—and most will argue is the last of his kind. Where the direction now is pointed by data and figures, Karl let his pencil and sketchbook take command. Old-fashioned for some, eccentric genius for others.

A man with a fashion sense as sharp as his tongue, Lagerfeld often found himself in newspaper headlines, both good and bad. His unfiltered takes on several then-timely issues often put him at the centre of debates within fashion circles and beyond. Perhaps if he was alive today, this generation’s knack for calling out famous people for perceived wrongdoings might have gotten the best of him. Or perhaps not. “You can’t cancel Karl Lagerfeld,” author and journalist Kristie Clements said. She added, “I am not an apologist for his comments. But you can’t apply the present attitudes to how the fashion industry used to be.”

Karl Lagerfeld represented a bygone era not just in fashion but in art. Back when artists were on ivory towers whose geniuses were only manifested through their magna opera. Across history, it is often the polarising symbols of certain epochs that outstood time and sustained relevance. And if this current conversation tells anything, it is that we won’t have Lagerfeld’s name off our lips anytime soon.

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