Karl Comes to Conquer

By Kate Betts

What do you do when you've scaled the heights of fashion, designing some of the most talked-about collections on runways from Paris to Milan, and you've reinvented such iconic brands as Chanel and Fendi? Well, you come and conquer America, of course. And that's what Karl Lagerfeld, probably the most respected name in fashion, plans to do this week when he hits New York City with his latest venture: a namesake collection for men and women that will be priced far below the four-figure price tags of Chanel.

The line, which offers distressed denim and logo T shirts as well as gauzy evening dresses and tailored suits, will be priced in the more accessible category often referred to as "bridge" and currently dominated by brands like Lauren by Ralph Lauren and Marc by Marc Jacobs. (Dresses start at $475, pants at $275, and jeans and T shirts run from $95 to $255.)

It's certainly cheaper than Chanel, but please don't call it secondary. "I hate the notion of a second line," Lagerfeld says, on the phone from Paris where he was working on Chanel's fall 2006 line. "It's condescending and patronizing."

What will differentiate this line, according to Lagerfeld, is its real-world attitude. "It's much tougher than Chanel and more about the way people dress in everyday life," he says.

Manufactured in Hong Kong, Italy and the U.S., the collection is the result of Tommy Hilfiger's acquisition of the Karl Lagerfeld trademark in 2004. And while Lagerfeld is famous for his multitasking talents, whether that means cutting a Chanel jacket, designing a Fendi fur coat, snapping a high-fashion photograph or discussing 16th century Spanish philosophy in one of his five languages, the world of less expensive clothes is new territory for him. Adding one more collection may be easy. Breaking into a crowded market filled with a vast array of established denim brands, T shirt designers and manufacturing powerhouses like Lauren and H&M (a company for which Lagerfeld created a hit one-off collection in 2004) is not. But Hilfiger is betting on Lagerfeld's popularity and design savvy to make the venture a success.

What's in it for Lagerfeld? Although he's a rock star in the fashion world, his name doesn't have the same mass appeal as Lauren's or Giorgio Armani's. With name recognition, as they have so amply proved, comes the ability to sell jewelry, watches, eyewear, home furnishings and lighting--all of which are planned for the Lagerfeld line. And the positioning has been cleverly conceived as ageless. "It's not age specific in the sense of price or style," says Ann Acierno, president of Karl Lagerfeld. "Department stores can put it in multiple places, and women can buy a mix of products and prices, which is how women dress now." Neiman Marcus liked the idea of more affordable Lagerfeld so much, it ordered up 40 looks the minute the plans for the collection were announced.

"I felt like the time was right for me to be in America," Lagerfeld says. He has launched himself in the U.S. with characteristic gusto: setting up shop in the same loft building as Martha Stewart's office in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood, purchasing an apartment near Gramercy Park and hiring a team of designers headed by the stylist Melanie Ward, a former creative director for Helmut Lang. And the collection is all about Lagerfeld, from his signature on one T shirt to the photo of the designer as a young man on another. In a first for the fashion industry, Apple will offer a video podcast of Lagerfeld's show on iTunes.

But perhaps most auspicious of all, Europe's fashion prince has been asked to pay a visit to America's kingmaker. That's right, he's going on Oprah.