Urban safari departing from Saint Germain

“Karl will always be my muse,” explains his successor at the eponymous label, Hun Kim, whose latest collection began its journey in St Germain, Lagerfeld's favourite neighbourhood for more than 60 years.

A journey that began in one of Karl's former establishments, the Café Flore, from whose terrace Hun watched and admired the Parisians passing by.

The result was a spring/summer 2025 collection featuring safari details such as flap pockets on shirt dresses, explorer shorts and pleated colonial skirts. All made in shades of khaki, beige and white, often in tightly woven cottons for added structure.

“There are many catwalks in Paris, but perhaps the best is Saint Germain,” said Hun, who was born in Korea.

Playing off Karl's signature white turtlenecks, most artfully with a built-in white tie and knot embroidered with a black KL.

Hun also collaborated with Joann, an Armenian artist and creative director, and together they incorporated KL’s ideas into AI software, from which emerged ideas for a multi-tiered ruffled shirt dress that will surely one day find a place in a museum. Architecture and nature meet with enthusiasm.

While the house's expressionist roots were evident in a variety of black crepe looks, notably a cunningly gathered satin skirt, gathered at one hip with a fabric flower.

Men also went on safari in plantation linen suits and lightweight jersey shirts. They dressed up for the evening in jacquard tuxedos. “Post-Covid men are looking for something that makes them feel superior,” the designer noted.

And of course, the range includes several new KL high-neck shirts, with double or rounded Edwardian-style collars – the kind that music legend Nike Rodgers continues to custom-make.

In a moment of great activity, the Amsterdam-based house also showed a new exclusive straw hat to match Borsalino and supermodel Amber Valletta's latest bag. This time, a graphic woven cotton tote made in Burkina Faso.

In other news, Karl Lagerfeld’s house is moving forward on multiple architectural fronts. It opened a hotel in Macau, Karl’s most significant construction project that he personally oversaw. And the brand is busy building a dual-use residence in Lisbon’s Old Town; a gated community with more than 50 villas in Dubai; and a quintet of high-end luxury residential developments in Spain.

So, five years after Karl's death, his brand seems very much alive and keeps alive the elegance, wit and intelligence of the most famous designer in the world.