Karl Lagerfeld’s Fingerless Gloves to Go under Hammer

Three small embroidered cushions for the cat Choupette and leather gloves are displayed before the auction of late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld?s Collection by Sotheby's auction house in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, November 30, 2021. (Reuters)
Three small embroidered cushions for the cat Choupette and leather gloves are displayed before the auction of late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld?s Collection by Sotheby's auction house in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, November 30, 2021. (Reuters)
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Karl Lagerfeld’s Fingerless Gloves to Go under Hammer

Three small embroidered cushions for the cat Choupette and leather gloves are displayed before the auction of late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld?s Collection by Sotheby's auction house in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, November 30, 2021. (Reuters)
Three small embroidered cushions for the cat Choupette and leather gloves are displayed before the auction of late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld?s Collection by Sotheby's auction house in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, November 30, 2021. (Reuters)

Personal belongings of the late designer Karl Lagerfeld, including his trademark fingerless leather gloves and the cushions his cat Choupette sat on, are to go on sale in a series of auctions that begin in Monaco this week.

Lagerfeld, who died in 2019, was an icon of the fashion industry, celebrated as much for his distinctive personal style of gloves, sunglasses and ponytail as he was for the fashion he designed for Chanel and other houses.

The collection of belongings, being auctioned by Sotheby's, has items from his personal wardrobe and the furniture, accessories and art which decorated his many homes.

Bids are also invited for a model of Choupette with an estimated price of 5,000 euros ($5,690) to 7,000 euros, and a figurine of Lagerfeld made out of PVC, metal and rhinestones, with a price estimate of 200-300 euros.

Elaborate trunks and suitcases that Lagerfeld took with him when he traveled, three Rolls-Royce cars and a pair of chrome-plated dumbbells owned by the famously body-conscious designer, are also included in the sale.

"This collection is emblematic of Karl Lagerfeld's taste," Pierre Mothes, vice president of Sotheby's in France, told Reuters at a preview of the collection.

"It gives a sense of his aesthetic choices, his personality, the man he was, and the private life that was hidden behind the facade we all know, that of a great designer."

After Monaco on Dec. 3-5, the sale moves to Paris later in December, then on to Cologne early next year.



Shein Hit with Complaint from EU Consumer Group over 'Dark Patterns'

(FILES) A photo taken on April 16, 2025 shows the Chinese e-commerce company Shein app logo on a smartphone screen in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
(FILES) A photo taken on April 16, 2025 shows the Chinese e-commerce company Shein app logo on a smartphone screen in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
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Shein Hit with Complaint from EU Consumer Group over 'Dark Patterns'

(FILES) A photo taken on April 16, 2025 shows the Chinese e-commerce company Shein app logo on a smartphone screen in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
(FILES) A photo taken on April 16, 2025 shows the Chinese e-commerce company Shein app logo on a smartphone screen in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

Pan-European consumers organization BEUC filed a complaint with the European Commission on Thursday against online fast-fashion retailer Shein over its use of "dark patterns", tactics designed to make people buy more on its app and website.

Pop-ups urging customers not to leave the app or risk losing promotions, countdown timers that create time pressure to complete a purchase, and the infinite scroll on its app are among the methods Shein uses that could be considered "aggressive commercial practices", BEUC said in a report also published on Thursday.

The BEUC also detailed Shein's use of frequent notifications, with one phone receiving 12 notifications from the app in a single day, Reuters reported.

"For fast fashion you need to have volume, you need to have mass consumption, and these dark patterns are designed to stimulate mass consumption," Agustin Reyna, director general of BEUC, said in an interview.

"For us, to be satisfactory they need to get rid of these dark patterns, but the question is whether they will have enough incentive to do so, knowing the potential impact it can have on the volume of purchases."

In a statement, Shein said: "We are already working constructively with national consumers authorities and the EU Commission to demonstrate our commitment to complying with EU laws and regulations." It added that the BEUC had not accepted its request for a meeting.

Shein and rival online discount platform Temu have surged in popularity in Europe, partly helped by apps that encourage shoppers to engage with games and stand to win discounts and free products.

The BEUC has also previously targeted Temu in a complaint.

Shein's use of gamification, drawing shoppers to use the app regularly, has helped drive its success.

In the "Puppy Keep" game on the app, users feed a virtual dog and collect points to win free items. They can gain more points by scrolling through the app, and by ordering items, but must log into the game every day or risk losing cumulative rewards.

The BEUC noted that dark patterns are widely used by mass-market clothing retailers and called on the consumer protection network to include other retailers in its investigation.

It said 25 of its member organizations in 21 countries, including France, Germany and Spain, joined in the grievance filed with the Commission and with the European consumer protection network.

Late last month, the European Commission notified Shein of practices breaching EU consumer law and warned it would face fines if it failed to address the concerns.

The company is also under scrutiny from EU tech regulators on how it complies with EU online content rules.