New series on Disney+ presents portrait of a fashion designer

Daniel Bruhl as designer Karl Lagerfeld—Disney+

Few fashion icons are as recognizable as Karl Lagerfeld. There’s Vogue editor Anna Wintour and her exacting Dutch boy bob cut, Diana Vreeland with her distinctly bumpy nose, and designer Alber Elbaz and his bow tie and round spectacles. And then there’s Lagerfeld who famously kept his platinum blonde hair in a low ponytail, wore dark glasses everywhere, and always had a fan in hand.

There are glimpses of the fashion figure he would eventually become, but in the new six-part series “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld” on Disney+, what we see is a prolific designer struggling to find his own style. Based on the novel “Kaiser Karl” by Raphaelle Bacque, the series is set in Paris in the early 1970s and stars German Spanish actor Daniel Bruhl as Lagerfeld.

When we first see him, Lagerfeld has already put in the time apprenticing at a number of top fashion houses including Balmain and Patou before joining Chloe first as one of its ready-to-wear designers and later, as the brand’s artistic director.

Bruhl is convincing as the stony-faced German designer who longs for something more: the chance to design couture and the trappings of fame that come along with it.

Frenemy

Lagerfeld did not grow up destitute. After leaving Hamburg, Germany, and settling with his parents in an expansive Paris apartment, it’s implied that he hones his skills alongside his frenemy, designer Yves Saint Laurent, played by Arnaud Valois. While Lagerfeld can churn out new designs very quickly—there are many scenes that show him sketching—Saint Laurent is like a mad genius, one plagued with obsessive traits that threaten to derail his career.

The two designers later vie for the affections of a young writer and certified dandy, Jacques de Bascher portrayed by Theodore Pellerin. While Lagerfeld seems content to simply dress De Bascher up in exquisitely cut suits worn over pussy-bow tops, Saint Laurent wants to swallow him whole.

In one scene, Saint Laurent surprises—more like stalks—De Bascher, strewing lilies on the steps leading to the latter’s apartment. While initially distressed by this grand gesture, De Bascher eventually lets Saint Laurent in where they loll around naked on the carpeted floor.

Unable or unwilling to reveal to De Bascher how he truly feels, Lagerfeld mechanically eats his feelings. In the silence of his room but at different times, he devours a lemon tart, a chocolate bar and a slice of birthday cake.

‘Feast for the eyes’

“Becoming Karl Lagerfeld” has been described as a feast for the eyes because of all the ’70s-style fashion on display at the disco, in restaurants and parties. What I couldn’t wrap my head around was why these two designers were smitten with this young aristocrat with daddy issues. De Bascher is slight of build with an era-appropriate pencil mustache. He is petulant, immature and demanding, so when he leaves Paris and returns to his family mansion located in the outskirts of the city, it was a relief. Then again, the heart wants what it wants.

The leads are ably supported by a cast that includes Alex Lutz as Pierrre Berge, Agnes Jaoui as Gaby Aghion of Chloe, Sunnyi Melles as Marlene Dietrich, Theodora Breux as Anita Briey, Jeanne Damas as Paloma Picasso, and Lisa Kreuzer as Lagerfeld’s mother Elisabeth.

The shorthand way Lagerfeld communicates with Elisabeth is heartwarming as it underscores their closeness. When she suffers from a stroke and is left partially debilitated, she tells her son, “Get to work. Show all of them.”

It’s enough to light the fire and lead him to Chanel, where he would design couture and continue to do so until his death in 2019.

In an interview with The Guardian, Bruhl said he admired Lagerfeld for his “gigantic” legacy.

“I guess what inspired me the most is that—even when you’re getting older—to not lose the grip and not become too nostalgic, to stay curious no matter what,” Bruhl told The Guardian.