Every time Mr. Lagerfeld makes an incendiary statement, there’s a flurry of upset online, but it is contained, focused on him and not the brands that employ and enable him. There is no call for a boycott of Chanel, Fendi or even his namesake label. The companies themselves don’t even bother to issue the now seemingly de rigueur “We don’t agree, but he is his own person and has a right to his views.” They just tuck their heads in and have no comment, or don’t respond. How come?

There is no doubt that Mr. Lagerfeld occupies a singular space in the style universe. He is someone who has shaped the fashion industry as we know it (and our wardrobes as we know them), alongside names like Giorgio Armani and Rei Kawakubo, and is probably about as close to a living legend as exists in fashion.

A certain tolerance of idiosyncrasy goes along with that — a certain “Oh, it’s just old Uncle Fester doing his thing” — as well as fear when it comes to criticizing the power player in the room. Especially when that power player works for a brand, like Chanel, that is enshrined on a power pedestal.

Indeed, a friend who privately expressed outrage over Mr. Lagerfeld also said: “Don’t quote me, please. I don’t want to lose my fifth row seat at Chanel.” When Sara Ziff, the founder of the Model Alliance, spoke out against Mr. Lagerfeld’s comments on models, she said she received a lot of support via direct messaging from contacts — who then said they could not make their feelings public.

Still, no brand in untouchable. Last May Chanel came under fire in Australia for cultural appropriation after it created a $1,325 Chanel boomerang, and was forced to make a quasi apology, announcing “it was not our intention to disrespect the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.”

And just because the fashion world quivers in its stilettos at the idea of calling time , that doesn’t mean the consuming public should. Which suggests that there is something else going on, and it may have as much to do with the current cultural and political reality as the boycotts do.