Karl Lagerfeld sketched like he spoke, fast, as if driven to keep ahead of the rest of the world. Which doesn’t mean he didn’t know history. Among fashion designers of the last 50 years, Lagerfeld may have had the widest and deepest frame of reference, a knowledge he brought to his work leading the houses of Patou, Chloé, Fendi, and Chanel. There was also his eponymous label. This was a man who lived in the now and was keen on the next, which meant work, work, work. Lagerfeld died in 2019 at age 85, and the fashion scene is certainly quieter and less articulate without him. The Met now honors Lagerfeld with a retrospective that is organized thematically, paying special attention to his play with the serpentine line and the straight line, married again and again in his designs. —Laura Jacobs