Earlier this month, the MET Gala announced the 2023 theme: Karl Lagerfeld, the legendary designer. He translated his talent and creativity into pieces for Chanel (the brand he revitalized after Coco Chanel’s death) and Fendi. But, while some consider him an unquestionable fashion icon, others wonder why, at this point in history, the fashion world should celebrate a powerful man who used his platform to spread fatphobia and misogyny. Now we know that the answer lies not only in a tribute to Lagerfeld, but a movie that will star and be produced by Jared Leto.
Through their production company, Paradox, Jared Leto and Emma Ludbrook will produce this Karl Lagerfeld biopic with Pier Paolo Righi, Caroline Lebar, and Sebastien Jondeau, three people close to the designer who will serve as executive producers. Lebar was Lagerfeld’s advisor for many years, Righi is the current CEO of the brand, and Jondeau was his assistant and now style consultant.
Jared Leto has spoken of Karl Lagerfeld as an inspiration. According to an interview with the actor with WWD, the first time he met the designer he confessed his desire to play him: “You know, one day I have to be you in a movie,” he told him. “Just you, darling, just you,” replied Lagerfeld, who passed away in 2019.
One of the problematic aspects of Karl Lagerfeld and the tributes to him is, as we mentioned, the comments he made (without any remorse, apparently) against fat people and women. The designer went so far as to speak against the inclusion of curvy women in fashion magazines, blamed overweight people for the health crisis, and personally supervised that his brand did not hire any model who was not extremely thin.
As Jameela Jamil noted in a post protesting the MET Gala announcement, “this man, indeed, was extremely talented, but he used his platform hatefully, especially towards women, so repeatedly and until the last years of his life, showing no remorse, no attempt to redeem himself, no apology.”
On the other hand, Jared Leto is a problematic celebrity in so many ways. He has also been signaled by the Me Too movement and has been accused of taking advantage of his status as an actor and rock star. “Why are we celebrating this person when there are so many amazing designers out there who are not white, bigoted men?” wondered Jamil on Instagram about Karl Lagerfeld. Maybe it’s because bigoted white men celebrate themselves, like Jared Leto with his idol.
Story originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva
