Designer Karl Lagerfeld’s cars, furniture and art to be auctioned at Sotheby’s

Sale will also include leather gloves, suits and items that belonged to the Chanel boss's beloved cat, Choupette

The artwork for the Karl Lagerfeld auction by Sotheby's. Photo: Sotheby's

More than 1,000 items that once belonged to the late designer Karl Lagerfeld are set to go under the hammer.

Taking place as eight separate auctions, Lagerfeld’s personal effects – including fine art, collectables, 20th-century furniture, Rolls-Royce cars and hundreds of pairs of fingerless gloves – will be sold by Sotheby's.

With homes in Berlin, New York, Paris and Monaco, Lagerfeld had built up a substantial collection of items to furnish them. The auctions will take place across Europe, with Sotheby’s hosting events in Paris, Cologne and Monaco.

A crocodile Chanel bag owned by Karl Lagerfeld will be part of the Sotheby's auction. Photo: Sotheby's

Of the sale, Sotheby’s explained the items “offer an anthology of Lagerfeld's personal taste … illuminating the fashion titan’s life as a designer, decorator, photographer and collector".

Included in the sales will be pieces of contemporary furniture owned by the former creative director of Chanel, who died in 2019 aged 85.

A zealous collector, Lagerfeld owned a Zenith Chair by Marc Newson in gleaming metal, which is expected to realise €40,000 to €60,000 ($47,000 to $71,000), and a console by Martin Szekely that is anticipated to fetch up to €30,000 ($35,500).

Also up for grabs is a pair of chrome dumbbells by Aston Martin, champagne buckets by Martin Margiela that resemble paint pots and a jar filled with a stack of starched, white collars.

The Zenith Chair by Marc Newson will be included in the Karl Lagerfeld auction by Sotheby's later this year. Photo: Sotheby's

The contemporary slant of many of the pieces offered for sale reflects the fact Lagerfeld sold his antique collection in 2000 for a cool $28.5 million, to focus instead on artworks from this century.

These modern works include a 2014 portrait by Takashi Murakami that is expected to sell for between €80,000 to €120,000 ($95,000 to $142,000), and Dom Perignon Balloon Venus by Jeff Koons, which is estimated to fetch between €20,000 ($24,000) and €30,000 ($35,500).

In addition, the sale will also include personal items such as bed linens, a large quantity of Goyard suitcases, suits by Dior Homme, Saint Laurent, Comme des Garcons, and his own label Karl Lagerfeld, as well as more than 200 pairs of fingerless leather gloves, that the designer wore constantly for the last two decades of his life.

Among the lots are also items related to Lagerfeld’s beloved cat Choupette, including eating bowls and a sculpture portrait by Joana Vasconcelos estimated to sell for between €5,000 ($6,000) and €7,000 ($8,000).

A portrait of Karl Lagerfeld by artist Takashi Murakami will be part of the Sotheby's auction. Photo: Sotheby's

The auctions will take place in Monaco between Friday to Sunday, December 3 to 5, in Paris on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 14 and 15, and in Cologne in the spring.

There will also be online auctions held between Friday, November 26 and Thursday, December 16.