Jared Leto is to become Karl Lagerfeld in a new fashion-filled biopic

The designer, who passed away in 2019, was one of the world’s most recognisable and prolific figures in fashion. Known best for his work at Chanel, which spanned 36 years, Lagerfeld also worked as the creative director of Fendi and of his own eponymous fashion house. Now his incredible life will be captured on screen by Oscar winner Jared Leto.

The project is endorsed and closely collaborated on with the Karl Lagerfeld house along with three of the late designer’s most trusted confidantes. Pier Paolo Righi, Karl Lagerfeld house CEO since 2011, Caroline Lebar, senior vice president of image and communications at Karl Lagerfeld and Sébastien Jondeau, who spent 20 years as the designer’s assistant and bodyguard. When Leto first met the designer, he mentioned the idea to him reportedly eliciting a typical Karlesque response: “only you, darling, only you”.

In recent years, Leto has been more closely aligned with rival fashion house Gucci. The actor also happens to look identical to Gucci’s creative director, Alessandro Michele. Leto’s performance in the biographical crime drama, House of Gucci, was questionable and has left critics wondering if he will be up for the challenge. But the real cast question on everyone’s mind is: who will play Choupette? Yes, Lagerfeld’s beloved cat, who he wrote into his will and should take a starring role on screen.

While not much has been disclosed regarding the arch or narrative approach the film will take, Leto did let on to WWD that it will focus on, “key relationships in Karl Lagerfeld’s life, told through an unpredictable lens, much like the man himself”. “Karl was a human being. We all have beauty within us, and we all have faults. We have masks and then we have moments when we reveal the mask. I’m always interested in seeing what’s behind the mask.”

The news comes less than a week after it was announced that the theme of next year’s Met Gala would similarly revolve around the figure. “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” will be the title of the 2023 Gala along with an accompanying Costume Institute exhibition examining the designer’s work over his celebrated career. It looks like 2023 is going to be Karl’s year, or more likely his heiress’s, Choupette’s.