This year’s Met Gala honors the late German designer Karl Lagerfeld. The exhibit, which the gala marks the opening of, traces Lagerfeld’s designs from the ’50s until his death in 2019.
Lagerfeld is best known for his decades-long stints at Fendi and Chanel, which he revived after the brand suffered a decline in the ’70s.
“Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” opens to the public on May 5. The Met Gala’s dress code, as always, is in line with the exhibit. Guests have been asked to dress “in honor of Karl.”
Throughout his career, Lagerfeld established himself not only as a fashion designer but as an eccentric personality. He hardly ever deviated from his black-and-white uniform, and he even admitted that he would have married his beloved Birman cat, Choupette, if it were allowed.
Lagerfeld’s eccentricities extended to his eating habits. In 2001, the designer dropped more than 90 pounds as a result of a personalized diet plan created by Dr. Jean-Claude Houdret, who went on to coauthor “The Karl Lagerfeld Diet.”
Here, some of the curious facts about Lagerfeld’s diet plan.
Initially, Lagerfeld only ate 800 calories a day
Lagerfeld’s low-fat, low-carb diet was split into three phases. The first involved consuming just 800 to 900 calories a day, while the second upped the intake to 1,200.
The third phase, which resembled a more typical diet plan, was capped at 1,600 calories. The designer focused on foods that included lean meats, fish, fruits and vegetables. Carbs, sugar and red meat were strictly off limits, as was most alcohol.
Recipes featured in the book feel like something out of Versailles:
• Fish soufflé
• Quail flambé
• Ham and raspberry mousse
• Roast guinea fowl with tarragon and vegetables in aspic (gelatin)
The fashion industry motivated him to lose weight
Lagerfeld said his primary incentive for wanting to shed pounds had to do with his wardrobe. “I suddenly wanted to wear clothes designed by Hedi Slimane, who used to work for Saint Laurent,” he wrote. “But these fashions, modeled by very, very slim boys — and not men my age — required me to lose at least [80 pounds].”
Lagerfeld also referred to fashion as “the healthiest motivation for losing weight.” After all, “nothing in your life depends on it, apart from your wardrobe.”
Lagerfeld rarely exercised
For most people trying to lose weight, working out is par for the course. Lagerfeld, however, limited exercise to “15 minutes three times a week.”
His breakfasts changed with the seasons
The French are known for focusing on seasonal cuisine — a tenet Lagerfeld employed for the most important meal of the day. His “winter breakfast” was comprised of an egg (not fried in oil), a piece of toast, juice and yogurt. Lagerfeld has a tip for those looking to indulge: “The height of luxury is for me to have an extra slice of toast. It’s the most delicious thing in the world.”
The designer’s slimmed-down “summer breakfast,” meanwhile, only consisted of fruit and yogurt.
Lagerfeld drank 10 cans of Diet Coke daily
While real sugar was “banned” from his diet, plenty of the fake stuff didn’t hurt. “I drink Diet Coke from the minute I get up to the minute I go to bed,” he said. “I can even drink it in the middle of the night and I can sleep. I don’t drink coffee, I don’t drink tea, I drink nothing else.”
Lagerfeld even brought his design skills to Coca-Cola in 2010 and 2011, creating limited-edition aluminum bottles for his beverage of choice, Diet Coke.