Series: Becoming Karl Lagerfeld 🇫🇷

At a glance

• From: France, with scenes in Paris, Monaco and Rome
• Year: 2024
• Format: 6 episodes
• Language: French
• For fans of: Halston, Mad Men, The Crown

Everyone knows Karl Lagerfeld’s famous hairstyle. But in 1972 he did not have it yet. He was 38, a designer born in Hamburg and working in Paris, and he was almost unknown.

Becoming Karl Lagerfeld starts there. Karl works in ready-to-wear, the fashion that is made for the shops and not for a few rich clients. His friend and rival is Yves Saint Laurent, a genius of haute couture, the very expensive fashion made by hand. Saint Laurent has a strong partner, the businessman Pierre Bergé. Then Karl meets Jacques de Bascher, a charismatic young dandy, and his life changes.

The series follows him through the 1970s, with big parties, jealousy, love and a lot of beautiful clothes. It is based on Kaiser Karl, a book by the French journalist Raphaëlle Bacqué, and it was the original title of the series too.

The most interesting choice is the language. Daniel Brühl, who plays Karl, was born in Barcelona to a German father and a Spanish mother. The series is in French, and he plays the whole role in French. Théodore Pellerin plays Jacques, Arnaud Valois plays Saint Laurent, Alex Lutz plays Bergé and Agnès Jaoui plays Gabrielle Aghion, the founder of the fashion house Chloé.

Not every critic was won over. The Guardian called it “a visual feast” and gave it four stars out of five. But Paste magazine found that the series never explains what made Lagerfeld an important designer. If you want to understand why he mattered, you may want more. If you want a stylish story about ambition and love, it is a pleasure.

Behind the camera, the series was created by Isaure Pisani-Ferry with Jennifer Have and Raphaëlle Bacqué. Jérôme Salle directed episodes 1, 2 and 6, and Audrey Estrougo directed episodes 3, 4 and 5. It was produced by Gaumont and Jour Premier.

Where to start

Start with the first episode. It sets the whole story: Karl, Jacques and Saint Laurent, and the rivalry that drives the story. If you like the first episode, you will probably like the other five.

If you like this, try these from Europe

• Cristóbal Balenciaga 🇪🇸: the life of the Spanish master of haute couture, who showed his first collection in Paris in 1937, with Alberto San Juan in the lead role.
• La Maison 🇫🇷: a drama about a fictional Paris fashion house in crisis, with Lambert Wilson as its star designer.

Where to find it in Europe

• Stream it: all six episodes are on Disney+ in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden. It is not on a European public broadcaster that we could find.
• Read the book: Kaiser Karl, by Raphaëlle Bacqué, published by Albin Michel in 2019.

The European context

Lagerfeld was born in Hamburg and built his career in Paris and Rome. The series is a European mix too: a French production with a lead actor who has a German father and a Spanish mother, filmed in France, Monaco and Italy.

Watch the trailer (in French): https://youtu.be/UPTZ0ep5mds

Also on Choosing Europe

• Series: Die Kaiserin (The Empress) 🇩🇪: another European series that tells the story of a famous figure in a modern way.
• Series: Berlín 🇪🇸: another series built around one charming character, with a jewel heist in Paris.