The latest Disney x Karl Lagerfeld link-up built on a 2004 sell-out and a centenary-year success.
Karl Lagerfeld’s long-running rapport with Disney’s temperamental duck resurfaced this week when the house released a capsule inspired by the late designer’s 2004 illustration of Donald Duck dressed in Lagerfeld’s own monochrome uniform. That sketch, first produced for Donald’s 70th anniversary, had already proved its pulling power: Disneyland Paris sold through 3,000 T-shirts bearing the image in 2004, and a 2023 team-up for Disney’s centenary was, according to the brand, another quiet triumph.
For the 2025 update, the cartoon appeared in colour and in black-and-white across denim jackets, sweaters, a bomber and a softly tailored blazer. Accessories broadened the offer with backpacks, totes, handbags, sneakers, sunglasses, scarves and even umbrellas, each stamped with Donald’s pout or Lagerfeld’s unmistakable silhouette.
The capsule launched on Thursday at Karl Lagerfeld flagships, select Disney stores, key wholesale partners and the labels’ respective e-shops, Karl.com and Disneystore.co.uk. Pier Paolo Righi, the brand’s chief executive officer, described the sketch as a keeper from the archive and a neat reminder of Lagerfeld’s dry humour.
With a playful bird in place of the usual monogram, the release balanced nostalgia with the house’s street-leaning staples—proof that, two decades on, Lagerfeld’s cartoon cameo still sold.
