On February 19th , we lost one of the icons of haute couture – Karl Lagerfeld. The eccentric designer died at the age of 85, and his death caused a wave of reactions in the world of show business. In book circles, however, we will remember him with something far different and remarkable – his passion for books.

During his lifetime, the creative director of Fendi and Chanel founded his own publishing house called Edition 7L, as well as the Parisian bookstore 7L. In 2010. He even created a unique perfum with the scent of ink on paper called Paper Passion. However, his love of books is most evident in his personal library, which hoses more than 300,000 volumes arranged from the floor to ceiling. The piles surround the entire Kaiser’s house and form a type of book fortress.

Lagerfeld manages to be unconventional without overthinking it: he simply stacks the hundreds of books horizontally rather than vertically. The horizontal piling looks dramatic, especially paired with the minimalist decor and modern furniture. It does, however, present a logistical issue: if Lagerfeld wants a book on the bottom of the stack, he has to pull it out against the weight of what’s on top. 

See how impressive the Lagerfeld’s library looks like thanks to the My Modern Met gallery.