HISTORY FOR SALE: Karl Lagerfeld’s expansive former studio and apartment on the Quai Voltaire, with a view of the Seine and the Louvre, is going up for auction later this month.
Lagerfeld occupied the space, which he reportedly likened to a high-tech incubator, between 2006 until his death in 2019, according to sources.
Not just a property but a piece of history, the 2,800-square-foot space was completely renovated to suit the designer’s needs, with a radically minimalist gray and white appearance featuring concrete and resin floors, a multitude of lighting fixtures and unique revolving glass bookcases that still line the walls of the main studio space.
Its main space, once filled with part of Lagerfeld’s massive collection of books and an extensive collection of modernist furniture sourced especially for the location, features three giant windows overlooking the Seine. A sleeping area, separated from the main room by sandblasted glass panels that open on hinges, looks onto a rear courtyard. There is also a bathroom with a rectangular Corian bathtub, a spacious dressing room, once filled with the designer’s endless racks of black jackets, and a kitchen with stainless steel fittings.
The apartment and studio is situated on the fourth floor of a 1694 building and has a reinforced security system, according to the property listing. The sale also includes a garage space and two cellars.
With a starting price of 5.3 million euros, the property will go under the hammer on March 26 at the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and has already attracted significant interest, according to the notarial office in charge of the sale.
Photos from the property listing show the apartment, previously filled with 21st century design, empty. Much of the furniture and art with which Lagerfeld had filled the space was sold at Sotheby’s through eight separate sales in late 2021 and early 2022.
