Becoming Karl Lagerfeld Is a Poignant Story of Self-Invention, But It Has One Big Distraction

Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is a compelling biopic, but it’s also a fashion document. And to a fault, the fashion Lagerfeld was making, and the way in which he became, gets short-changed by its insistence on telling a love story that might’ve been integral to his life but not to his work, nor, to be honest, to his becoming. In the end, Dietrich guest edits an issue of Vogue Paris (December 1974) but she does so without Lagerfeld’s involvement. She didn’t like the dress he made for her. After watching all six episodes, I couldn’t tell you what it looked like. But in a story about one of the world’s most celebrated designers, shouldn’t fashion be the main event?