An Ode to the Real-Life Chanel Brides of Karl Lagerfeld

For her 2011 wedding to Sam Cooper, singer Lily Allen wore a billowy white Chanel frock to her reception. It featured an embroidered bust and a roomy empire waist cut, as Allen was pregnant at the time. Three years later, the singer caused a Twitter uproar when she revealed during an interview that she had lost her custom creation—said to be worth around $300,000. (She eventually tweeted a few weeks later that she found it: “Everyone relax,” she wrote.)

Lagerfeld walked Kristen McMenamy down the aisle in a gown of his own design to marry fashion photographer Miles Aldridge. For his model muse, he crafted a one-shoulder draped chiffon gown dyed to match perfectly with her complexion. She paired it all with a feather headdress by Philip Treacy. The high-fashion nature of the affair, with Naomi Campbell serving as a bridesmaid and guests including Vivienne Westwood and Manolo Blahnik, led the New York Times to humorously write: “The invitation said 4 o’clock, but at five minutes past a latecomer rushed in to find only the groom, four other guests, a gaggle of photographers, and 60 gilt chairs arranged in rows, with names on the seats: Boy George, David Bailey, Rupert Everett. Already, this was shaping up to be more like a fashion show than a wedding.”