Cara Delevingne and Karl Lagerfeld had so much in common

Did the late Karl Lagerfeld set Cara Delevingne on the path to becoming an actress, budding musician and now fashion guru?

Hearing her recount her first modeling days for Lagerfeld, starting with Chanel's spring 2012 couture collection with her airplane adornment and troll-like vertical hairstyles, one could deduce as much.

“There was so much to do with being in a role. I think it was the first time in fashion that I was really allowed to play these different roles,” she said during an interview to discuss his capsule collection with the Karl Lagerfeld brand, which will be released on September 8 in Karl Lagerfeld stores, on karl.com and through selected wholesale partners worldwide.

The British model said Lagerfeld was always up for it when she suggested performing on the catwalk, as she did for a 2016 Chanel show at the Ritz, kissing another model's hand and sharing a tango moment with a waiter. Related Galleries

Karl Lagerfeld and Cara Delevingne Courtesy of Karl Lagerfeld

For a Chanel show in Salzburg in 2014, the German designer went so far as to cast Delevingne as Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as "Sisi", opposite Pharrell Williams, for a short film he directed. The two danced and sang an original duet - "CC the World".

("For her to start singing with Pharrell, that's not so bad, is it?" Lagerfeld was deadpan at the time.)

"He really influenced me so much," Delevingne gushed about Lagerfeld in a recent Teams interview. “He never told me to do anything specific, but he gave me space to grow and he would treat me like a friend. … He was so human to me and that made me feel so much more comfortable with myself."

In fact, her openness and encouragement eventually gave Delevingne the confidence to share an idea she had for a Chanel show, which Lagerfeld was unable to realize before her death in February 2019.

"I was so nervous about telling him, but he was like, 'Wow, I can't believe I never thought of that,'" she said. told, while refusing to divulge the concept.

Delevingne and Lagerfeld shared the same vision of fashion in many ways, which the capsule collection demonstrates by emphasizing wearability, practical touches like pockets, a playful spirit, a chic fit - and several interpretations of the shirt, Lagerfeld's favorite item of clothing.

It was Lagerfeld who instilled in Delevingne an appreciation for his craft.

“I didn’t really know fashion before I started. I never really gave him that much credit,” she confessed. “He taught me so much more about fashion in terms of of its possibilities."

His closeness to Lagerfeld, whose prodigious knowledge and refined taste extended to interiors and industrial design, certainly seeped through.