Common Sense Media Review
By Melissa Camacho
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Superficial, slick drama has sex, drugs, drinking.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Becoming Karl Lagerfeld
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Adapted from the book Kaiser Karl by Raphaelle Bacqué, BECOMING KARL LAGERFELD is a dramatic French series about the rise of German ready-to-wear fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld (Daniel Bruhl) and and his relationship with French dandy Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin). It's the early 1970s, and Lagerfeld is thirty-eight years old, unknown, and working for the House of Chloé under Gabrielle Aghion (Agnes Jaoui). During this time, he meets the self-destructive Jacques, a young aristocrat who's squandered his writing talent with the trappings of his jet-set lifestyle. They become a pair of dysfunctional lovers of sorts, but Lagerfeld is wrapped up in his own ambitions, which includes rising in the ranks of French fashion and challenging his friend and foe Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois) along with his lover and business partner Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz), to give Jacques the love and commitment he is looking for.
Is It Any Good?
The slick, stylized, and sometimes campy six-part docudrama offers superficial glimpses at Lagerfeld's complicated life as he makes his way up the higher echelons of French fashion. In Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, the designer struggles against prejudice due to his German heritage and ready-to-wear fashions, he constantly reinvents himself to be able to push ahead in the industry and eventually lands him in the House of Fendi and later, the House of Chanel.
Throughout it all, Bascher struggles with Lagerfeld's unwillingness or inability to commit to a deeper, more loving connection with him. His increased attempts to fill the void created by Lagerfeld's inability to put him ahead of his ambitions with boozing, drug use, and sexual encounters (including a calamitous affair with Yves Saint Laurent) underscores how pitiable the overall situation became over time. It's all very messy, which creates the dramatic edge that keeps the story moving.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what the fashion industry is like. Who gets to decide what is fashionable and why?
Becoming Karl Lagerfeld characterizes the designer's relationship with everyone in and outside of the fashion industry as being complicated. Was he like that in real life? How do we know?
TV Details
- Premiere date : June 7, 2024
- Cast : Daniel Bruhl , Théodore Pellerin , Agnes Jaoui
- Networks : Hulu , Disney+
- Genre : Drama
- TV rating :
- Last updated : June 12, 2024
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate