The present writing explores creativity and meaning in life as they manifested in Karl Lagerfeld, the German-born, Paris-based creative fashion designer, photographer and artist who lived and worked for most of his life in France ( Langkjaer, 2019). Reker (2000) defines the meaning of life as a “multidimensional construct consisting of the cognisance of order, coherence, and purpose in one’s existence, the pursuit and attainment of worthwhile goals, and the accompanying sense of fulfillment.” Meaning in life is a concept that encompasses not only life’s inherent value ( Adler, 1964), and the framework through which life can be interpreted ( Frankl, 1963), but also the sense of achievement in meeting goals ( Seligman, 1991) and an enthusiastic orientation that views life as exciting, interesting, or engaging ( Rogers, 1951). Creativity research supports what Lagerfeld’s specific experience bore out: Not only at its root, but also throughout its development, creativity seems to be strongly connected to meaning-making and meaning in life ( Kaufman, 2018a, 2018b). This basic process continued throughout his entire life, though it was doubtless refined as time wore on. In Lagerfeld’s case, throughout his childhood and early adult years he constantly oscillated between viewing artworks and fashion magazines, and translating what he saw into sketches of outfits. These factors are operative from the earliest stages of the development of the creative skill, to their full flowering. Many factors work together to determine the shape creativity will take, such as the genetic predispositions of the creator, as well as the type of environment in which the creator finds herself, and also the context that informs each creative endeavour ( Csíkszentmihályi, 2014). Creativity develops across the life span ( Hilton, 2008 Trilling & Fadel, 2009), helping individuals to cope with life challenges at every phase of personal development ( Romero, Hyvönen, & Barberá, 2012). The creative individual’s work is characterised by its originality, but also by its effectiveness ( Runco & Jaeger, 2012). Creativity has not only been considered in its positive aspects, but also in its challenging facets, such as mental disorder and psychopathology ( Belli, 2009 Holm-Hadulla, 2018).Ĭreativity is the skill to develop original ideas that are generally valuable and useful ( Sternberg & Lubart, 1995). In particular, these researchers have focused on the characteristics, development, and expression of creative individuals across the life span ( Holm-Hadulla, 2012 Kasser, 2013 Kováry, 2011 Mayer, 2017 Mayer & van Niekerk, 2020 McAdams, 1988 McRunyan, 2005 Osorio, 2016 Ponterrotto, 2015 Runco & Albert, 2010). During the past decades, psychobiographers have explored creativity at work in extraordinary, imaginative individuals, such as lyricists, writers, psychologists, and politicians ( Schultz, 2005). Ever since its rise to prominence in academe, creativity has also been closely linked with psychobiography ( Johnson, 1985 John-Steiner, 2015 Kováry, 2011, 2016 Latilla & Kramer, 2018 Mayer, 2017 Mayer & van Nierkerk, 2020). Conclusions are drawn and recommendations for future research and practice are provided.Ĭreativity emerged as a popular research topic in the middle of the last century ( Guilford, 1950), and has since become a prominent theme in a wide array of fields such as psychology and sociology ( Amabile, 2018 Damian & Simonton, 2015 Runco & Albert, 2010). The findings demonstrate the interplay of mini-c, little-c, Pro-c and Big-C creativity throughout the subject’s lifetime, as well as the subject’s application of WICS, both of which led to the subject’s worldwide success. First- and third-person data on Lagerfeld were collected and evaluated through a hermeneutically-informed syntho-analysis. The article uses a psychobiographical case study design formulated according to a research paradigm of modern hermeneutics. The authors apply two specific creativity theories to Lagerfeld’s life and work, namely the mini-c, little-c, Pro-c and Big-C creativity theory and Sternberg’s WICS-model (wisdom, intelligence and creativity). The authors suggest that, through his creative approach to fashion, architecture, and publishing, Lagerfeld articulated and refined a core set of values-such as “Bildung,” “lightness” and “the unexpected”-that served as a Diltheyan “nexus” linking the Prussian-born designer with the global consumer. Owing to his unremitting pursuit of excellence through creative expression, Lagerfeld’s creativity, energy and intuition for fashion trends seemed only to expand throughout his long career. Lagerfeld ran several fashion houses, such as Chanel and Fendi, leading them to unprecedented profits. During his lifetime, Karl Otto Lagerfeld (1933–2018) attained such industry renown that he became widely known as the Emperor of Fashion.
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