A.hen she applied to Chloé in 1967, Rosemarie Le Gallais was confronted with her origins again. Jacques Lenoir, the executive director of the fashion brand, looked through their records and said, “Ah, you are German? My whole family was killed in Auschwitz. ”Rosemarie looked startled and tears welled up in her eyes. Months later, when she had long been “attaché de presse” to the up-and-coming label, Lenoir said to her: “Do you know why I took you? Because of your reaction back then in the conversation. “
Rosemarie Le Gallais, born in 1937 as Rosemarie Lehmacher in Lüdenscheid and raised in Plettenberg in the Sauerland, was one of the few Germans who entered the Parisian fashion scene in the sixties. No wonder that she immediately hit it off with Chloé designer Karl Lagerfeld, who was four years her senior.
From then on, she worked closely with the fashion designer from Hamburg, who had come to Paris in 1952, for two decades. Because she was the right size, she was not only the press lady, but also acted as a model for the fittings. And as the most important advisor to the impetuous fashion designer, she had to shout “Halt!” Often enough when he once again drew far more than the usual 220 designs per season.
So she was part of a great upward movement. Chloé, founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion, was the first brand that had not developed from haute couture to prêt-à-porter, but started with cheaper clothing. At first it was a family business in a four-room apartment on Rue des Miromesnil. “When Karl came, Jacques Lenoir had to vacate his office so that there was enough space for the fittings,” Le Gallais told FAZ in 2020. The early fashion shows took place in the Brasserie Lipp. Karl Lagerfeld and his team slowly worked their way up to a trend brand, with customers like Linda McCartney, Stéphane Audran and Caroline von Monaco, with whom Lagerfeld had been friends since then.
In 1987 they parted ways
Rosemarie Le Gallais was there when Lagerfeld got rich with the Chloé perfumes, in which he was involved in business. She was there when he learned of his mother’s death on September 14, 1978 while trying on fittings for the Wibor company in Mönchengladbach. She flew with him on a business tour through Germany, Japan and the USA. She accompanied him to his first dinner with Alain Wertheimer, who hired Lagerfeld for Chanel in 1982. And she was there in 1983 when Lagerfeld finally wanted to make something of his name and founded the Karl Lagerfeld brand.
He called them “my right and left hand”. In 1987 they parted ways. She had learned enough to design a fashion accessories collection for Swarovski as creative director. Since then, the crystal manufacturer from Tyrol has also been well received in the Parisian fashion scene.
Rosemarie Le Gallais died on December 9th in Paris at the age of 84. She lives on in fashion through her nephew Stefan Lubrina, the son of her sister Stefanie, who also went to Paris when she was young and last looked after her. As a set designer, Stefan Lubrina designs, among other things, the backdrops for the big Chanel shows.
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