Fashion Greats Lost: Essential Reading

The past few years have seen several fashion icons pass away; while death is, indeed, an inevitable part of life, we mourn their loss, and look for ways to keep their legacies alive. Below, books to reach for to learn more about these extraordinarily stylish souls. —Vita Daily

Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel (a position held from 1983 until his death), was also creative director of the Italian fur and leather goods fashion house Fendi, and of his own eponymous fashion label. He collaborated on a variety of fashion and art-related projects, and passed away in February 2019. Recommended reading: Kaiser Karl by Raphaelle Bacque.

Elsa Peretti was an Italian jewelry designer and philanthropist as well as a fashion model. Her jewelry and design pieces for Tiffany & Co. are included in the 20th century collection of the British Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She passed awa in March 2021. If you can get your hands on it, we recommend her own Fifteen of My Fifty with Tiffany.

Alber Elbaz was an Israeli fashion designer. He was the creative director of Lanvin in Paris from 2001 until 2015, after having done stints at a number of other fashion houses, including Geoffrey Beene, Guy Laroche and Yves Saint Laurent. He founded the Richemont-backed label AZ Factory in 2019, and passed away in April 2021. Recommended reading: Lanvin: I Love You.

American fashion designer and entrepreneur Virgil Abloh was the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection beginning in 2018, and was given increased creative responsibilities across the LVMH brand in early 2021. He lost his quiet battle to cancer in late November 2021. Learn more about his time at Nike through his own Insert Complicated Title Here.

Manfred Thierry Mugler was a French fashion designer, creative director and creative adviser of Mugler. In the 1970s, Mugler launched his eponymous fashion house and quickly rose to prominence in the following decades for his avant-garde, architectural, hyperfeminine and theatrical approach to haute couture. He passed away in January 2022. Revel in images of his fantastical creations through Manfred Thierry Mugler, Photographer.