Each seat at the Fendi Autumn/Winter collection in Milan had, as usual, Karl Largerfeld’s sketches of the subsequently modeled designs. Along with them, lay a card much like at a funeral, with the date of Lagerfeld’s passing, a heart, and his recognizable signature. This collection would be his last for Fendi.

One can’t help but feel a wince of distracting sadness when viewing the many starched, raised collars parading down the runway- something the designer frequently wore himself. Yet, his presence in the room was undeniably still there, in the sharply cut seams and tailoring. In the Karligraphy that dotted tights, tops, bag straps and more. Karl had worked on this collection with the same effort he put into everything he did, despite his failing health, reportedly insisting “I have to work on my collections” until recently. Other prominent features of the show included a large amount of sheer, large cuffs (some fur), feminine airy fabrics matched with stern padded shoulders on coats and blazers.

After Gigi Hadid, the last model, returned backstage “54 years together” flashed on stage- indicating how long Lagerfeld had spent at the brand and what Silvia Fendi called “fashion’s longest love story.” Ensuing that was a snippet of the Karl Lagerfeld Sketches His life documentary that was also posted on Fendi’s Instagram. In it he draws himself on his first day at Fendi in 1965- and what he was wearing:  A Cerruti hat, dark glasses, a lavallière tie, an English hunting style jacket with panels, French style culottes, boots and a bag he found, ironically, in Milan.