Karl Lagerfeld Has Doubts About Emmanuelle Alt

WWD asked a handful of fashion insiders for their thoughts on Emmanuelle Alt's new gig as editor-in-chief of French Vogue and Karl Lagerfeld seemed especially wishy-washy on whether she'd do a good job:

Karl Lagerfeld...said Alt has a strong fingerprint, which could be a double-edged sword.

"Her style is her big shoulders, long legs, tight jeans, sleeves up to the elbow, one hip out," the designer said. "I personally like her. She's a handsome French woman. She has a style, but is it enough to make a whole magazine?"

Lagerfeld said he would reserve judgment until Alt has produced a few issues, and he held out hope she would bring change, the engine of fashion. "As editor in chief, she may blossom," he said.

Giambattista Valli called the decision "a very logical continuation for French Vogue:"

"She's really somebody who's going to make it. She has a point of view, a lot of vision....I remember when she was editor in chief of Mixte she did some amazing stories. She worked a lot with Corinne Day at the time. She's French, but she's extremely international as well[....]Alt is a contemporary Parisian woman who is interested in design. She's more about Parisian chic, perhaps less eclectic than [Roitfeld] and all this kind of sexiness."

Alt will take the helm on February 1.