The White Shirt Project: A Tribute To Karl Lagerfeld

The industry-wide tribute initiative brought together the late designer’s global community of friends and family, including Middle Eastern fashion authorities Ingie Chalhoub and Diala Makki.

If you have been following the fashion pack on social media as they document their journey through Paris Fashion Week, you must have come across The White Shirt Project; a collaborative, industry-wide initiative curated by one of Karl Lagerfeld’s closest friends and current Style Advisor of Maison KARL LAGERFELD, Carine Roitfeld, which pays homage to one of the most influential designers in history.

The project honors the legendary designer’s affinity for the classic white shirt; a garment that became an emblematic element of his inimitable personal style. The tribute initiative brought together Karl’s global community of family and friends, assigning each of them with the task of reimagining the designer’s favorite fashion staple to create bespoke editions which relayed their personal anecdotes, memories and experiences of the late designer.

Participants of The White Shirt Project included Sarah Andelman, Louise Bourgoin, Ingie Chalhoub, Tiffany Cooper, Caro Daur, Lou Doillon, Kaia Gerber, Gigi Hadid, Winnie Harlow, Eva Herzigová, Davika Hoorne, Xu Jing, Afef Jnifen, Away Lee, Diala Makki, Helen Mirren, Olivia Palermo, Soo Joo Park, Elena Perminova, Holli Rogers, Sati Spivakova, Nadja Swarovski, Amber Valletta, Yoni Alter, Lil Buck, ILOVEDUST, Endless, Baptiste Giabiconi, Lewis Hamilton, Hun Kim, Simone Legno, Alton Mason, Alessandro Michele, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kiddy Smile, Steven Wilson, The KARL LAGERFELD Team and Choupette.

The project was launched with a private exhibit on Wednesday evening during Paris Fashion Week at the Maison KARL LAGERFELD’ Saint-Germain-des-Pres flagship store. The exhibit’s opening event hosted some of the designer’s closest and dearest industry comrades at the historic building which housed his office and remains the home for his eponymous brand. The exhibit is set to remain for the public to enjoy through to the end of Paris Fashion Week; following which it is expected to travel to select KARL LAGERFELD boutiques in London and Munich in October. 

A highly limited number of the tribute shirts have been replicated for consumers and are available for purchase for sale on karl.com and farfetch.com. The designs include limited edition, signature white shirt styles from Carine Roitfeld, Cara Delevingne, Tommy Hilfiger, Sébastien Jondeau, Diane Kruger, Kate Moss and Takashi Murakami; each shirt comes with a souvenir-style tag bearing one of the visionary designer’s memorable quotes, “If you ask me what I’de most like to have invented in fashion I’de say the white shirt. For me, the white shirt is the basis of everything. Everything else comes after.”

View this post on Instagram

I’m so honored to be part of this incredible project and to have designed my own white shirt to pay tribute my dear friend @karllagerfeld. Inspired by Karl's lucky number, seven of the exclusive white shirts will be replicated 77 times each and sold for €777 per piece. The entire sales proceeds will be donated to the “Sauver la Vie” charity for medical research, which Karl supported for many years. #TributeToKarl @sauverlavie @farfetch

A post shared by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on Sep 24, 2019 at 9:05am PDT

Only 77 shirts per style will ever be produced making each and every one an absolute must for any fashion enthusiast’s collection. What’s more is that 100% of the proceeds from all purchases will be donated to the “Sauver la Vie” charity initiative for medical research at the Paris Descartes University. The ultimate  Lagerfeld-worthy fashion statement: timeless, iconic and selfless.