International fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld, the legendary creative director who breathed life into the house of Chanel after its founder’s death, had an eye for more than just the runway. Outside the design world, Lagerfeld was a passionate collector of books (at the time of his death in 2019, his personal library held nearly 300,000 publications); an influential photographer (in addition to self-portraits, he shot commercial fashion campaigns, editorials, and landscapes); and a lover of architecture. Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Houses (Thames and Hudson, 2024) explores the interiors of 13 homes Lagerfeld inhabited throughout his lifetime, including the sumptuous Hôtel Pozzo di Borgo in Paris, an apartment in Monte Carlo decked out with quirky furniture from the Memphis Group, a futuristic loft on the Quai Voltaire, and a black and white, Vienna Secession–inspired apartment walking distance from Fendi’s workshops in Rome.

“Lagerfeld changed his decor even more often than his image,” writes Patrick Mauriès in the book’s foreword, adding that “he ‘amused’ himself…by creating an interior and then casting it aside. Every place had its own spirit, every room its own staging.” The result is an ever-changing repertoire of interiors that “reflects the desires, circumstances, and whims of its creator and reveals his character more fully than any biography.” Andrée Putnam, a French interior decorator and Lagerfeld’s longtime friend, explained it a bit differently: “Karl Lagerfeld is sincere in his approach. Each apartment that he creates is a world in itself. He takes his obsession to the limits, then he gets rid of everything.”

Purchased in 2009, the Pavillon de Voisins, which Lagerfeld renamed Villa Louveciennes after the western suburb of Paris in which it stood, was the final dwelling in the designer’s catalog. Featuring a neoclassical facade and a variety of treasured objects from Lagerfeld’s former residences, the home was not shown to the public until after the icon’s death. In the ground-floor sitting room, an oval mirror by Armand-Albert Rateau hangs above a writing desk; to the right is a Biedermeier cabinet from Villa Jako, Lagerfeld’s previous property in Hamburg. Painted wooden seats with luxurious blue velvet padded upholstery (attributed to German illustrator and furniture designer Bruno Paul) rest atop a floral rug by Louis Süe and André Mare, while a neo-rococo porcelain table lamp by Gerhard Schliepstein sits on an end table near the window. Over 1,000 items from Lagerfeld’s estate, auctioned off by Sotheby’s in Paris, Monaco, and Cologne, fetched more than quadruple the auction house’s original estimates. Incorporate Lagerfeld’s ultimate interior aesthetic into your home with these nine finds.  

Excerpted from Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Houses (Thames and Hudson, 2024). Reprinted with permission from the publisher.