Years after their deaths, Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent are still two of the biggest names in fashion. But their intertwined history extends far beyond haute couture.
German fashion designer and photographer Karl Lagerfeld spent his early career at Chloé and Fendi, but was arguably best known for being the creative driving force behind the modern revival of Chanel.
French couturier Yves Saint Laurent, on the other hand, started off as an intern at Dior, before he founded his eponymous fashion label in 1962.
From an early stage, the two competed for recognition from both their peers and the press. But beyond their professional rivalry, the two creatives were embroiled in tumultuous love triangle that caused scandal among the Paris social scene at the time.
Now, thanks to a new limited drama series on Disney+ and Hulu, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, a new audience is being introduced to the wild – and very much true – story.
How did Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent meet?
In 1954, when Karl was 21 and Yves was 18, they entered the prestigious Paris-based design competition, International Wool Secretariat, which is now known as the International Woolmark Prize.
Although Karl won first prize in the coat category, Yves took home the highest distinction in the evening gown category.
In the years that followed, Yves was hired by Christian Dior, and was then named his successor when he died in 1957.
Yves was ultimately fired from Dior when he was drafted into the army three years later. His fashion career was far from over, and in 1961 he started his own fashion label, which became his namesake.
Meanwhile, Karl started off at French ready-to-wear brand Chloé, and also worked with luxury Italian designer label, Fendi. He then went on to work with Balmain and Jean Patou, as well as Chanel.
Who was at the centre of their love triangle?
Tensions flared after Yves began a short-lived affair with Karl’s long-term romantic partner, Jacques de Bascher. The romance captured the attention of the industry and escalated the rivalry between the pair.
Jacques was known as a socialite and an Air France steward by trade, and was also an aspiring writer. He came from an aristocratic family and was used to the high life.
He met Karl at a Parisian club in 1971 and a romance soon began. The fashion icon was said to be deeply fond of his new beau.
Yves and Jacques’ affair happened in 1974 and lasted only six months. William Middleton, the author of the Karl biography Paradise Now, said the affair was ended by Yves’ business partner and former flame Pierre Bergé, who blamed Jacques for Yves’ struggles with drugs.
The affair didn’t become public knowledge until 2006, when Alicia Drake’s book, The Beautiful Fall, was published.
Despite having a reputation for being an unforgiving person, Karl allegedly excused his partner, as he did for all of Jacques’ affairs.
Tragically, Jacques died from AIDS in 1989 aged 35. Three years after his death, Karl spoke about the impact he had on his life.
‘I’m not a family-minded person, and he was the only thing that gave a kind of sense to things,’ Karl told Vanity Fair in 1992. ‘He brought to my life a kind of sparkle nobody else ever will. Maybe there is one person in life for you and that’s all.’
The rivalry between Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent
The height of their feud unfurled decades before the era of social media – and a lot of the mud-slinging happened verbally or tactfully through calculated moves.
One of Karl’s most infamous quotes was directed at Yves and his rise to fame. ‘It is an absurd idea when he [Yves] says that he didn’t have a youth. I knew him myself when he had one, but he only had one desire at the time…to be rich and famous,’ Karl told a French magazine.
Karl publicly addressed the affair between Saint Laurent and de Bascher in Marie Ottavi’s 2014 book, Jacques de Bascher, dandy de l’ombre, where he placed the blame for any tension between himself and Yves on Pierre.
‘Of course I knew about the affair with Saint Laurent,’ he said. ‘I had been close friends with Yves for more than 20 years. We used to go out in the early days with Anne-Marie Munoz and Victoire Doutreleau. Pierre smashed that to bits. He said I engineered their liaison to destabilise the house of Saint Laurent.’
On the flipside, there doesn’t appear to be many records of things Yves said about Karl regarding their feud.
Yves died in 2008 of brain cancer and Karl died in 2019 from complications of prostate cancer. Despite their rivalry, the two men carved a legacy that will remain sutured in the DNA of fashion forever.
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