“Karl Lagerfeld,” writes Patrick Mauriès within the introduction to Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Homes, “modified his decor much more usually than his picture.” Certainly, the 13 properties belonging to the late Chanel inventive director which are featured within the new e-book (printed this week by Thames & Hudson) are outstanding of their aesthetic vary—whether or not his Artwork Deco Paris condominium from the Seventies, his Nineteen Eighties Memphis-design Monte Carlo pied-à-terre, or his spare but luxurious weekend retreat in Biarritz. As Mauriès summarizes: “Lagerfeld collected interiors in the identical approach that Don Juan notched up conquests.”

Much more spectacular than Lagerfeld’s mastery of inside design, nonetheless, was his ability as a collector: All through the a long time, the designer amassed a blinding vary of work, furnishings, and ornamental objects of spectacular value. The Paris property on Rue de l’Universite included a light-weight pendant by Man Ray and Joe Colombo Elda armchair, bought earlier than the Italian modernist designer turned mainstream. His subsequent condominium within the metropolis of lights, Hôtel Pozzo di Borgo, was adorned lavishly after a “frenzied spending spree,” within the phrases of Marie Kalt, the e-book’s co-author together with Mauriès.

“Lagerfeld sought to transcend a mere train in model and construct up an unmatchable assortment,” Kalt continues. “He amassed Outdated Masters work, furnishings with prestigious makers’ marks (with a particular choice for the Transition model, which mixed the curves of Louis X Rococo with components of the neoclassical Louis XVI model), and valuable historic objects that always modified place amidst a stressed swirl of removing males.”

In the meantime, his futuristic Left Financial institution lair on Quai Voltaire—which Vogue ran in its October 2008 subject—options chrome chairs by Marc Newsom and steel stools by Jasper Morrison. (The truth is, many images from Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Homes come from the Condé Nast archive: Vogue alone shot his properties eight occasions in over 34 years.)

Lagerfeld was a polymath, and Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Homes serves not solely as visible proof of his abilities throughout a number of mediums, but additionally a captivating glimpse into the interconnectedness of his nice inventive thoughts. “Attire are solely fascinating as a part of the whole lot else that’s happening,” he instructed Vogue again in 1989.

Under, a preview of Lagerfeld’s suave properties, as printed in Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Homes.