Becoming Karl Lagerfeld

It’s an accessible introduction, and you don’t need to know much beyond their names to take in all the gorgeous gowns and keep up with the acerbic wit. Even if you wouldn’t want to befriend Brühl’s Lagerfeld, let alone have a love triangle with him, you do at all times long to be dressed by him and share his passion to make the world a more beautiful place.

Becoming Karl Lagerfeld might have the glossy patina of a Disney-backed series, but thanks to its humanity, heart, and grittiness, it doesn’t feel like a series pieced together in the present. Even if you aren’t interested in the life and times of Karl Lagerfeld, the series is absolutely worth watching if only for a forlorn Daniel Brühl running around a grandiose château like a lovestruck maiden, dressed in a nightgown and wielding a lantern.

Becoming Karl Lagerfeld just barely scratches the surface of what kind of a person the designer was. Viewers don’t truly understand the roots of his motives and evil doings. And, therefore, we cannot really attempt to align with him, nor hate or mock him for them.

The opulent setting and dichotomy of personalities also offset a largely surface-level portrait of a man who values professional success over all.

We would say that Becoming Karl Lagerfeld would be great if you’re a fan of fashion, but we’re not even sure there’s enough conflict to drive the drama for people who are interested in Lagerfeld’s history.