Remembering the Originality of Karl Lagerfeld

Humans who make beautiful things are not always beautiful people, at least not in the way we'd like them to be. But if Karl Lagerfeld, who died on Feb. 19 at 85, wasn't always kind--he was well known for his wicked, sometimes cruel quips--he was so exquisitely distinctive, as a personality and as a designer, that ignoring him was impossible.

Humans who make beautiful things are not always beautiful people, at least not in the way we'd like them to be. But if Karl Lagerfeld, who died on Feb. 19 at 85, wasn't always kind--he was well known for his wicked, sometimes cruel quips--he was so exquisitely distinctive, as a personality and as a designer, that ignoring him was impossible.