Fashion icon’s opulent hotel opens four years after his death

As Fashion Week kicks off in Sydney, fashionistas have a new hotel to put on their bucket-list.

The late Karl Lagerfeld’s biggest and final hospitality project, a luxurious 271-room Macau hotel, will officially launch in June – nine years after it was first announced.

The late designer’s lavish final hospitality project has finally been brought to life.

The Karl Lagerfeld Hotel, which began welcoming guests on April 29, is part of The Grand Lisboa Palace Resort Macau and will be the world’s only hotel designed entirely by the fashion great. Lagerfeld died in 2019 age 85, four years before his vision was brought to life.

Everything from the large-scale installations to the bathrobes and bedsheets have been touched with the designer’s creative flare. Room rates start from about 1949 Macanese Pataca ($360) a night.

The opulent stay will feature Portuguese celebrity chef Jose Avillez’s restaurant Mesa; a palatial book lounge containing 4000 carefully selected books, displayed majestically across multiple custom wall installations; and a lavish spa and wellness centre with indoor and outdoor pools.

A book lounge features striking custom shelving stacked with 4000 hand-picked books.

Lagerfeld drew on modern chinoiserie design elements when crafting the 271 rooms and suites, which weave Chinese symbols and silhouettes with Western aesthetics. Custom-made round silver and gold headboards take inspiration from Chinese coins, to signal prosperity, while circular room dividers are reminiscent of classic Chinese moon gates.

Ikonik Suite: A moody black, gold and red colour palette features throughout the rooms and public spaces.

A moody palette of black, gold and crimson features throughout the property’s rooms and public spaces; noticeably absent is the colour pink, which Lagerfeld famously believed wasn’t “flattering” on anyone. Fashion writer Patrick Mauries credited the designer as once saying: “Think pink. But don’t wear it.”

Lagerfeld collaborated with Italian design lighting brand Terzani, Dutch artist Marcel Wanders and French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel to create a number of commissioned works, including chandeliers, furnishings and sculptures.

It’s the latest property by SJM Resorts, whose stable of brands include Palazzo Versace Macau, Grand Lisboa and Ponte 16.

The former Chanel creative director worked with SJM on the hotel’s design for many years prior to his death in 2019.

The hotel launch comes on the back of Vogue’s annual Met Gala, which was themed this year “In Honour of Karl”, in tribute to the late German designer’s extensive body of work in fashion. The theme drew criticism from activists due to Lagerfeld’s legacy of fat-phobic, sexist and homophobic comments, including such comments as “These are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television, saying that thin models are ugly,” and “If you don’t want your pants pulled about, don’t become a model!”

See thekarllagerfeld.mo/en.

The German designer’s stamp is unmistakable throughout the property, particularly in the lobby.