By CATHY HORYN and ERIC WILSON Published: February 2, 2006 THERE is no bigger star in fashion today than Karl Lagerfeld. When Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman learned he would be creating a new line with his name on it, they ordered it sight unseen for spring. His first runway show for the collection, on Feb. 10 in New York, has created such anticipation that Apple Computer, which has never before approached a fashion designer to provide content, plans to make a video podcast available that night as a free download on iTunes.
Oprah Winfrey even arranged for Mr. Lagerfeld to squeeze in a trip to Chicago to tape an episode on Wednesday, with 10 models wearing the line.
"All you need to do is put the Lagerfeld name on anything, and people line up at the door," said Sara Albrecht, the owner of Ultimo in Chicago, a pillar of designer fashion in the Midwest. "Normally when I hear about a designer doing a lower-price line, I cringe. But he has such a perception of the consumer and how they wear clothes in reality that it could really work."