Karl Lagerfeld: An Illustrated Biography

Karl Lagerfeld--a larger-than-life fashion icon who changed the industry and a living brand--comes to life in this all-new graphic novel biography that looks at the man behind the logo

"It starts with me and it ends with me."--Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld stylized himself into a living logo and a myth of the fashion world. As a brand, his name is synonymous with luxury, and as a designer, he worked for and influenced almost every major luxury brand since the beginning of his career, from his apprenticeship with Balmain to Fendi, whose logo he designed, to his renowned tenure at Chanel from 1982-2000.

Now, FAZ editor Alfons Kaiser, who knew Lagerfeld personally, tells the story of the charismatic fashion designer in this new graphic novel biography. Using many previously unknown sources, Karl Lagerfeld explores every aspect of his colorful career. From a youthful outsider in the northern German plains to an urbane genius in Paris competing to make a name for himself against designers such as Yves Saint-Laurent, this personal look at Lagerfeld's life paints a picture of a peerless designer, a tireless illustrator, an avid photographer, a passionate book collector, and a peerless workaholic.

But most of all, Kaiser tells the story of the man behind the larger-than-life figure: the precocious boy who preferred drawing in the attic to playing with his peers; the son who argued with his parents but never got away from them; Saint-Laurent's greatest rival; a brother, uncle, friend--and the partner of Jacques de Bascher, the great love of his life.

Author: Alfons Kaiser
Publisher: Abrams Comicarts
Published: 04/14/2026
Pages: 104
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 10.40h x 7.57w x 0.64d
ISBN: 9781419784460


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 04/01/2026

About the Author
Alfons Kaiser is the editor at the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, where he writes the column "Germany and the World." He also contributes to the monthly Frankfurter Allgemeine magazine. He is a fashion expert and was a personal friend of Karl Lagerfeld, and authored Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Fashion for Abrams in 2021. Simon Schwartz is a German illustrator and cartoonist. His work is published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Die Zeit, and other newspapers and magazines. Two of his graphic novels, The Other Side of the Wall (2015) and First Man: Reimagining Matthew Henson (2015) have been translated into English.