Updated
Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld has died at the age of 85, a source close to the fashion house has confirmed.
Key points:
- Karl Largerfeld was reportedly hospitalised in Paris on Monday
- The German designer is believed to have died on Tuesday morning
- Largerfeld’s death comes after he missed two Chanel shows in January
The iconic German fashion designer, who was the creative director at Chanel and Fendi, is reported to have died after an illness that lasted weeks.
According to Paris Match, the designer was hospitalised in Paris on Monday night.
Lagerfeld, who had been with Chanel since 1983, reportedly died on Tuesday morning (local time).
Lagerfeld’s death comes after he missed two Chanel haute couture shows in Paris last month, fuelling speculation about his health.
At the time, the fashion house said Lagerfeld was tired.
A statement after Lagerfeld missed his second show read: “Mr Lagerfeld, artistic director of Chanel, who was feeling tired, asked Virginie Viard, director of the creative studio of the house, to represent him.”
It was the first time Lagerfeld had missed giving the bow at the end of a Chanel show during his time with the fashion house.
The cause of his death is yet to be released.
Chanel, the legend now goes, risked becoming the preserve of monied grannies before Lagerfeld arrived in 1983, slashing hemlines and adding glitz to the prim tweed suits of what is now one of the world’s most valuable couture houses.
But Lagerfeld, who simultaneously churned out collections for LVMH’s Fendi and his eponymous label — an unheard-of feat in fashion — was almost a brand in his own right.
Sporting dark suits, white pony-tailed hair and tinted sunglasses in his later years that made him instantly recognisable, an irreverent wit was also part of a carefully crafted persona.
Lagerfeld stood out as a an accomplished photographer. He also drew his own designs by hand, an increasingly rare phenomenon in fashion.
Behind the facade, he was known for his erudition and penchant for literature, and he devoured the world’s leading newspapers daily.
His artistic instincts, business acumen and commensurate ego combined to commercially triumphant effect in the rarefied world of high fashion, where he was revered and feared in similar proportions by competitors and top models.
A refusal to look to the past was one of his biggest assets, those who knew him said.
Lagerfeld’s designs quickly trickled down to low-end retailers, giving him an almost unprecedented impact on the entire fashion industry.
Such was the enigma surrounding the German-born designer that even his age was a point of mystery for decades, with reports he had two birth certificates, one dated 1933 and the other 1938.
His cat Choupette moved with the times too.
The white-haired Birman — described by her social network minders as “daughter of Karl Otto Lagerfeld” — has more than 100,000 Instagram photo-network followers and a publishing deal.
Fellow designer Donatella Versace wrote of Largerfeld’s “genius” following news of his death.
She wrote on Instagram: “Karl your genius touched the lives of so many, especially Gianni and I.
“We will never forget your incredible talent and endless inspiration. We were always learning from you.”
Chairman and CEO for LVMH, the company behind fashion house Fendi, for which Lagerfeld was also creative director, praised the designer’s “immense imagination”.
Bernard Arnault said: “With the passing of Karl Lagerfeld we have lost a creative genius who helped to make Paris the fashion capital of the world and Fendi one of the most innovative Italian houses.
“We owe him a great deal: his taste and talent were the most exceptional I have ever known.
“I will always remember his immense imagination, his ability to conceive new trends for every season, his inexhaustible energy, the virtuosity of his drawings, his carefully guarded independence, his encyclopaedic culture, and his unique wit and eloquence.”
ABC/wires
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