An Exhibition Dedicated To Karl Lagerfeld’s Legendary Chanel Shows Is Now In City Walk

Last Wednesday, City Walk and 7 Art Gallery teamed up with legendary fashion photographer, Simon Procter, to bring his exhibition Lagerfeld: The Chanel Shows, to Dubai. The photographer is most famously known for his close work with Karl Lagerfeld, whose name speaks for itself. He is the mastermind behind some of the most incredible photos taken at Chanel’s iconic shows, and now you have the chance to see his work in real life at the exhibition in City Walk.

Our digital editor attended the fabulous and fashionable exhibition and spoke to Simon Procter himself about his work with the most esteemed fashion designer of all time, and we’ve got all the exclusive tea for you.

When asked about his favourite memory with Lagerfeld, Procter responded, “That is a good question, I’ve met him so many times. I like when he was talking to people, he was very funny. One of the things that people don’t know about him is that he was really wickedly funny. Whenever you’d see him, whoever’s next to him would be laughing. Every time I’d go somewhere I’d see someone cracking up.”

Karl Lagerfeld was most famously known as the designer behind possibly the must luxurious fashion house, Chanel, but what he is arguably most missed for is his over-the-top surreal fashion shows. From building supermarkets to airport terminals, there really isn’t much that the designer couldn’t bring to life. Of all the phenomenal experiences he gave people at his shows, Procter’s favourite was the time Lagerfeld built a space station at Paris’ Grand Palais, with a gigantic rocket that actually took off and sent all the guests to a Chanel planet. “I thought this was really good, when I came in, they literally built that, it touched the ceiling. It was really fun, it was brilliant. And they played the whole scene out, they did the countdown, the smoke and the fire. I’ve never seen a show like that, it was so clever,” he recalls.

“For me, it was always a pleasure because I’d come, and it would be like, what are we gonna see today? And honestly, they were extraordinary events. He built these things, these incredible things, waterfalls, beaches. Honestly, for me, it’s a kind of performance.”

It’s true that Chanel’s fashion shows under Karl Lagerfeld weren’t just shows, they were more of an exhibition in itself, and Procter seemed to agree, “it was an art piece, it was like you came to see that, and you don’t forget. It’s a very privileged thing to see one. To build all that just for one morning, it’s insane. It’s fascinating.”

After the tragic passing of the designer back in February 19 2019, many believed that Chanel would never be the same again. But Procter argues that Largerfeld affected far more than just the fashion house, “I don’t think the world will ever be the same without him. But Chanel is Chanel, they go on. People work out, but there’s only one Karl Lagerfield. That’s for sure,” he argues.

Procter had more than just a work relationship with the late designer, “he was incredibly kind to me, it’s something I always appreciated. My interpretation is that he was really fascinated by artists, and people making things. If you were making things, you had access to him. He was genuinely interested in other artists, if you did something interesting, he was interested in you. I think people really underestimated how interested he was in natural life. He worked like crazy all the time, but he was really interested, he always talked about never looking back. If you imagine the last ten years, he could’ve so easily just been like “look what I’ve done, I’ve done all this” but he never did. It was always the next thing. For me, I thought it was a good lesson. When you have a close relationship with Karl Lagerfeld, it’s fantastic, it’s a credential basically. It’s something I’ll always be grateful for.”

The photographer has showcased his work all around Europe, and yet for the first time ever, he’s decided to bring his work to Dubai. When asked about what he thinks of the city that never sleeps, he responded, “I really love it, it’s a really interesting place, making these things rise from the ground is quite beautiful for me. You can imagine European cities, they’re finished, they’ve been finished for a hundred years. To actually come to a city and see it coming out of the sand, woah, it’s incredible.”

The incredible exhibition is taking place at City Walk and is open to the public until 15 January 2022, find out more by visiting their website.