Tilda Swinton, Dame Helen Mirren and Cara Delevingne were among those to pay tribute to late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld at the ‘Karl For Ever’ event.
The world’s biggest names in fashion, including Gigi Hadid, Claudia Schiffer, Valentino Garavani, Ralph Lauren, Stella McCartney and US Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, attended the commemorative ceremony at the Grand Palais – the venue of Karl’s Chanel shows since 2005 – on Thursday (20.06.19) to honour the late icon, who died in February at the age of 85.
The special event featured the work of Chanel, Fendi and the designer’s own eponymous-titled brand.
‘Doctor Strange’ actress Tilda – who wore a bright orange patterned peplum jacket and matching skirt – read a line from Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel ‘Orlando’, a favourite of Karl’s, about gender identity, which she later starred in a movie adaptation of in 1992.
The 58-year-old star read: "Clothes wear us and not we them.
"They change our view of the world, and the world’s view of us."
Helen, a close friend of the German-born creative director, honoured him by reading lines from ‘The World According to Karl’ – a collection of his most famous quotes published the year before his death – with the accompaniment of violinist Charlie Siem.
Cara, who modelled for Karl on many occasions, read a poem by French writer Colette and admitted he had "changed [her] life".
The 26-year-old British model-and-actress wowed in a pink feathered dress as she read lines about cats, as Karl’s own pet Burmese Choupette was shown on a screen behind her.
The evening also a special tribute performance by Pharrell Williams.
Under each of the attendee’s chairs was a sketch of Karl and Chanel’s founder Coco Chanel, which read: "The beats goes on…"
A minutes silence was also observed before the proceedings got underway.
Naomi Campbell, Penelope Cruz, Kristen Stewart and Janelle Monae were also among the guests in attendance.
The tribute ended as models struggled to hold back their tears as they made their way down the runway to David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’.
Although Karl – who died of pancreatic cancer – had no official funeral service, per his own request, both Chanel and Fendi paid tribute to the fashion icon during the final shows of his last autumn/winter 2019 collections.
Tilda Swinton, Helen Mirren and more pay tribute to Karl Lagerfeld at Paris memorial
