Francesco Vezzoli and Karl Lagerfeld: a design tribute
Francesco Vezzoli revisits the world of Karl Lagerfeld in a unique exhibition, to be staged in Monaco in 2025.
In 1981, Karl Lagerfeld left the classicism of Faubourg Saint-Germain for a resolutely modern apartment in Monte Carlo. Furnished exclusively by Memphis Milano,Ettore Sottsass‘s famous design house, the apartment was a veritable artistic manifesto. Today, Francesco Vezzoli, an Italian artist renowned for his work blending memory and fiction, has seized upon this heritage with an exceptional exhibition at the Almine Rech gallery in Monaco.
An exhibition between tribute and recreation
The Milan-based artist, passionate about storytelling and cultural misappropriation, offers a reinterpretation of Lagerfeld‘s legendary apartment, based on a faithful reproduction of furniture from the Memphis movement. To complete this immersion, he uses embroidered shots of the couturier, a technique already explored in his previous works devoted to twentieth-century icons.
Karl Lagerfeld and Memphis: an aesthetic revolution
When Karl Lagerfeld moved into Roccabella, a building designed by Giò Ponti, he made a bold choice by adopting Sottsass‘ radical aesthetic. Gone were the classic gildings and moldings, replaced by bright colors and disconcerting geometric shapes. Perceived at the time as a thumbing of the nose at convention, this decor reflects the couturier’s non-conformist spirit. As Paloma Picasso points out, this interior was an artistic “pirouette “, reflecting Lagerfeld’s insatiable quest for renewal.
📍 On view from March 20 to May 24, 2025, at the Almine Rech Monaco gallery.
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