It’s impossible to sum up Karl Lagerfeld’s traits into a single sentence. The polyglot designer, photographer, writer, and iconoclast was a man for all seasons, able to capture the hearts and minds of both the fashion-obsessed and the casual fan. At Chanel, he left his mark on every item that walked the runway, from the minaudière bags to the boater hats, but perhaps none was more memorable than his bridal dresses.
Over the years he has used the bride to make statements about gay marriage, gender identity, austerity, showmanship, and above all else, pure, unadulterated beauty. There have been meter-long trains, sharp pantsuits, cascading lace appliqués, mod-ish minidresses that upended the tradition of bridalwear; Lagerfeld’s final wedding look was a bridal maillot. Here, 61 of Lagerfeld’s most memorable brides.
1984
Chanel, spring 1984 couture | Inès de La Fressange does bridal demurely.
Photo: Fairchild Archive / WWD / Penske Media via Getty Images
Chanel, spring 1984 couture
Photo: Fairchild Archive / WWD / Penske Media via Getty Images1985
Chanel, fall 1985 couture | Cyber nuptials.
Photo: Michel Maurou / WWD / Penske Media via Getty Images1986
Chanel, fall 1986 couture | Inès de la Fressange was Karl Lagefeld ’s first Chanel muse.
Photo: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff / Getty Images
Chanel, fall 1986 couture | Here, de la Fressange wears a high-collar dress with a bow-trimmed veil.
Photo: Getty Images1987
Chanel, spring 1987 couture | Inès de la Fressange wears pyramidal panniers.
Photo: Pierre Vauthey / Sygma / Sygma via Getty Images
Chanel, fall 1987 couture | Inès de la Fressange as an architectural bride.
Photo: Daniel Simon / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images1989
Chanel, spring 1989 couture | A mermaid silhouette on Inès de la Fressange.
Photo: Victor Virgile / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images1991
Chanel, spring 1991 couture | Claudia Schiffer in a pearl-trimmed bridal dress.
Photo: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff / Getty Images
Chanel, fall 1991 couture | A medieval-style matrimony look for Claudia Schiffer.
Photo: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff / Getty Images1992
Chanel, fall 1992 couture | A corseted Claudia Schiffer.
Photo: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff / Getty Images1993
Chanel, spring 1993 couture | Claudia Schiffer in a floral dress and veil.
Photo: Condé Nast Archive
Chanel, spring 1993 couture | Claudia Schiffer in a floral dress and veil.
Photo: Condé Nast Archive1994
Chanel, spring 1994 couture | Clauida Schiffer carries off ruffles and a corselet well.
Photo: Daniel Simon / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Chanel, fall 1994 couture | Claudia Schiffer rocks a bridal jumpsuit.
Photo: Guy Marineau / Condé Nast Archive1995
Chanel, fall 1995 couture | Columnar chic on Nadja Auermann.
Photo: Guy Marineau / Condé Nast Archive
Chanel, fall 1995 couture | Columnar chic Claudia Schiffer.
Photo: Images Press / Getty Images
Chanel, fall 1995 couture | Columnar chic Shalom Harlow.
Photo: Guy Marineau / Condé Nast Archive1996
Chanel, spring 1996 couture | Claudia Schiffer in a brial coatdress.
Photo: Pierre Verdy / AFP via Getty Images
Chanel, fall 1996 couture | Guinevere van Seenus sparkles in silver.
Photo: Condé Nast Archive1997
Chanel, spring 1997 couture | Shalom Harlow models an airy dress featuring cut-out camellias.
Photo: Condé Nast Archive
Chanel, fall 1997 couture | Esther de Jong as a Scandinavian fairty tale bride.
Photo: Condé Nast Archive1998
Chanel, spring 1998 couture | Karen Elson channels Jazz Age chic.
Photo: Guy Marineau / Condé Nast Archive
Chanel, fall 1998 couture | Satin suits Erin O’Connor.
Photo: Daniel Simon / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images1999
Chanel, spring 1999 couture. | Kirsten Owen takes bridal minimal in this angelic white dress.
Photo: Condé Nast Archive
Chanel, fall 1999 couture | Devon Aoki: Babe in a hood.
2000
Chanel, spring 2000 couture | Devon Aoki as a blushing pink bride.
Photo: Condé Nast Archive2001
Chanel, spring 2001 couture | Tiers of tulle and silk make up Devon Aoki’s romantic look.
Photo: Condé Nast Archive
Chanel, fall 2001 couture | Jacquetta Wheeler as a pearly bride.
Photo: Guy Marineau / Condé Nast Archive2002
Chanel, spring 2002 couture | Karolina Kurkova: Pretty in pink.
Photo: Antoine de Parseval / Shoot Digital for Style.com
Chanel, fall 2002 couture | Karl Lagerfeld with Natalia Vodianova in a simple peach-hued maxi He resurrected the idea on a ready-to-wear runway almost 10 years later, with Rihanna turning up in a beige cardigan maxidress for Chanel’s Fall 2013 couture show.
Photo: Getty Images2003
Chanel, spring 2003 couture | Natalia Vodianova in a rommantic, feather-light dress.
Photo: Marcio Madeira
Chanel, fall 2003 couture | Linda Evangelista as a futuristic cyber bride.
Photo: Style.com2004
Chanel, spring 2004 couture | Alek Wek in an inconic caviar beaded dress and feathered bridal cape.
Photo: Marcio Madeira
Chanel, fall 2004 couture | Karl Lagerfeld with Charlott Cordes in a high-necked bridal gown.
Photo: Marcio Madeira2005
Chanel, spring 2005 couture | Luca Gadjus in a shimmering adn tactile dream of a dress.
Photo: Marcio Madeira
Chanel, fall 2005 couture | Solange Wilvert in a wedding dress abloom with camellias.
Photo: Marcio Madeira2006
Chanel, spring 2006 couture | The ethereal Lily Cole in a dress to match.
Photo: Style.com
Chanel, fall 2006 couture | Irina Lazarenu was Lagerfeld’s mod muse in the late aughts. Her dollybird bangs made her the ideal bride to sport this minidress-and-thigh-high boot combo.
Photo: Style.com2007
Chanel, spring 2007 couture | Freja Beha Erichsen in a deco-style gown as neat and trim as a skyscraper.
Photo: Style.com
Chanel, fall 2007 couture | Sport shades and couture? Chanel did it first. Suvi Koponen took it to the max in this beaded and feathered dress.
Photo: Getty Images2008
Chanel, spring 2008 couture | Devon Aoki in a pearl gray dress princess dress.
Photo: Daniele Oberrauch
Chanel, fall 2008 couture | An angelic design on Sasha Pivovarova.
Photo: Alessandro Lucione2009
Chanel, spring 2009 couture | Freja Beha Erichsen was Chanel’s techno-craft bride in a beaded suit and paper headdress.
Photo: Indigital.tv
Chanel, fall 2009 couture | Baptiste Giabiconi and Lara Stone make quite the couple.
Photo: Monica Feudi / Gorunway.com2010
Chanel, spring 2010 couture | Abbey Lee Kershaw and Baptiste Giabiconi shine on.
Photo: Indigital.tv
Chanel, fall 2010 couture | Iris Strubegger is the beauty to Giabiconi’s beast.
Photo: Indigital.tv2011
Chanel, spring 2011 couture | Kristen McMenamy upends expectations in this drop-waist dress that’s traded a veil for gauntlets and stilettos for flats.
Photo: Indigital.tv
Chanel, fall 2011 couture | Saskia de Brauw sported a feathered boater with a net strip across her eyes in lieu of a traditional veil.
Photo: Indigital.tv2012
Chanel, spring 2012 couture | Edie Campbell in a short, glam bridal look.
Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
Chanel, fall 2012 couture | Lindsey Wixson goes wide in a feather-trimmed dress.
Photo: Indigital.tv2013
Chanel, spring 2013 couture | Kati Nescher and Ashleigh Goode prove that two brides are better than one. (Cameo by Hudson Kroenig.)
Photo: Indigital.tv
Chanel, fall 2013 couture | Erin Wasson sports a coatdress that covers....
Photo: Yannis Vlamos / InDigital | GoRunway.jpg)
Chanel, fall 2013 couture | ... a floaty slipdress.
Photo: Yannis Vlamos / InDigital | GoRunway2014
Chanel, spring 2014 couture | Cara Delevingne stomped out on the runway in crystal-trimmed sneakers. Kroenig was there to help her with her train.
Photo: Indigital.tv
Chanel, fall 2014 couture |Model Ashleigh Goode was five months pregnant when she wore this dress, which became the star piece in the Costume Institute’s 2015 Manus x Machina exhibit.
Photo: Indigital.tv2015
Chanel, spring 2015 couture | Molly Blair in bridal separates.
Photo: Kim WestonArnold / Indigitalimages.com
Chanel, fall 2015 couture | Kendall Jenner wears a Vegas-worthy wedding tux at the Chanel casino.
Photo: Indigital.tv2016
Chanel, spring 2016 couture | In a first, Lagerfeld sent out Mica Arganaraz in a richly embellished hoodie.
Photo: Indigital.tv
Chanel, fall 2016 couture | Edie Campbell wears a dramatically feathered train and blush suit.
Photo: Indigital.tv2017
Chanel, spring 2017 couture | Lily-Rose Depp wore one of Lagerfeld’s most resplendent gowns; blush pink, it features clusters of ruffles.
Photo: Indigital.tv
Chanel, fall 2017 couture | Camille Hurel wears a gown designed to float down the aisle.
Photo: Indigital.tv2018
Chanel, spring 2018 couture | Luna Bijl, attended by Hudson Kroenig, went dapper in this tux-with-train combo.
Photo: Indigital.tv
Chanel, fall 2018 couture | Mint can be a wedding color—just ask Adut Akech, who sported this Chanel suit with a thigh-high slit.
Photo: Indigital.tv2019
Chanel, spring 2019 couture | Vittoria Ceretti had the honor of being Lagerfeld’s last bride. Hers was an embellished swimsuit with a trailing veil. On Instagram, the model wrote, “ ‘I woke up in the middle of the night and started drawing this dress for you. The next day I brought the paper in at Chanel and I told them ‘this is either for Vittoria or we’re not doing it.’ This is what Karl told me the last time I saw him in Paris at the fitting, wearing the bride dress. Just like every other time with him, my heart was fulfilled with love, happiness, and honor.”
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com