The May issue of Vogue is devoted to Anna Wintour’s tribute to her dear friend, the late Karl Lagerfeld, ahead of the Costume Institute’s show and gala devoted to the Lagerfeld theme. I already see a lot of people complaining online that Karl Lagerfeld was a snob who hated women (in general) and especially hated women who are bigger than a size 2. That’s real, he said all of that and more in many interviews. It was part of his whole persona – he was a hater, he was a snob, he thought Americans were gauche and unfashionable. Personally, I do think he mellowed in his final years, and becoming a father to his beloved cat Choupette definitely helped with his image.

Vogue organized various designers to “interpret” Lagerfeld’s staggering fashion archives with new looks, and I have to say, most of the new designs ATE. They’re so good, to the point where people are asking why none of those designers took over Chanel. Vogue also did a cover with “ten of the models that Lagerfeld loved the most”: Anok Yai, Shalom Harlow, Kendall Jenner, Liu Wen, Adut Akech, Natalia Vodianova, Naomi Campbell, Amber Valletta, Gigi Hadid, and Devon Aoki. Karl loved Kendall? Really? She walked some Chanel runways, but I doubt she was one of his faves. Amazingly, the magazine also brought out Choupette for the editorial! Naomi Campbell got to pose with Karl’s beloved cat, who I believe is now living with one of Lagerfeld’s senior staff.

You can read Wintour’s letter here. I was actually quite moved by what she said about her dear friend, and I appreciate that she didn’t want to do a somber or funerial tribute to Lagerfeld – she wanted it to be joyful and appreciative of his fashion legacy. Vogue also put a lot of their editorial on Instagram – they put a lot of time and money into this and it’s very cool.

Cover & IGs courtesy of Vogue.