Chanel's leading designer for 30 years, Karl Lagerfeld was a brand in his own right with an unmistakable look and outrageous comments. The German-born designer has died at the age of 85.
Lagerfeld held a number of top jobs in the fashion world and had an almost unprecedented influence on the industry.
Well-heeled roots
Karl Lagerfeld was born into a wealthy family on September 10, 1933. Young Karl and his sister lived with their mother and father, who was a canned milk manufacturer, in Hamburg's Blankenese district, home to aristocrats, pretty villas and well-kept parks.
All that changed for Lagerfeld when Hamburg was bombed in July 1944, as the family moved to their estate in Schleswig-Holstein. It was there, in the countryside, that he spent half of his childhood, though his urban origins, affinity for unusual clothing and his long hair made him stand out among the country kids.
Little Karl was quite unusual in other ways as well. Even before starting school, he learned English and French and spent hours up in the attic drawing. He preferred going to museums rather than to school, and was fascinated by French painters. "I loved everything that was French … that's where I wanted to go and that's why I learned French as a child," he told filmmaker Gero von Boehm in the 2014 documentaryDeutschland, deine Künstler: Karl Lagerfeld (Germany, Your Artists: Karl Lagerfeld).
Karl Lagerfeld, a brand
Best known as Chanel's creative director, Karl Lagerfeld became a brand in his own right thanks to his cat Choupette, often tactless remarks and that unmistakable look.
Image: Getty Images/AFPA. Jocard
Sunglasses and a ponytail
Karl Lagerfeld's ponytail and sunglasses made up his signature look. A shirt with a high collar, coat and tie, leather gloves and up to 30 rings on his fingers were just as indispensable. His unmistakable silhouette adorns the logo of his eponymous fashion label.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Seidel
Karl and his books
"I just can't stop buying books," Lagerfeld once said. They were all over his home. His bed was surrounded by towers of book and shelves line the walls, leaving little room for pictures. Lagerfeld's collection included about 300,000 books, mainly illustrated books on fashion and art, history and philosophy as well as essays and poems. The latter were his favorite.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/D. Eric
Choupette
Fashion, books — and then there was his third great passion: his cat, Choupette. The famous "cat who refuses to eat from the floor" has her own staff, Facebook and Twitter accounts and inspired two Chanel collections. "There is something unforgettable about her," Lagerfeld said. "She is an inspiration for elegance, for posture."
Image: DW
Karl and his muses
Choupette was by no means Lagerfeld's only muse. Beginning in 1990, he boosted the international top model career of Claudia Schiffer (photo). Baptiste Giabiconi was another source of inspiration. Lagerfeld photographed the young French model himself, and presented the results in illustrated books and exhibitions.
Image: Imago/Zumapress
The photographer
In 1987, Lagerfeld took over some of the camerawork for his agency because the advertising campaigns for Chanel didn't always meet his high aesthetic standards. He shot numerous Chanel campaigns, photographed stars including Nicole Kidman, did fashion portraits for Vogue and made short films for Fendi and other fashion houses. In the above photo, Choupette stars in a campaign for Opel.
Image: Adam Opel AG
Legendary remarks
Sweatpants are a sign of defeat, Lagerfeld famously claimed. People lose control of their lives and "go out on the street in sweatpants," he added. That was probably not true for the Chanel variety he designed in 2014 as part of a campaign targeting "leisure activities with a professional background," which was, in fact, how Lagerfeld described his job. "Standing on an assembly line, that's work."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Ballhausen
Soul of Chanel
Lagerfeld's looks, his quick tongue, his muses and the cult surrounding his Burmese cat were enough to make him a brand in his own right. But first and foremost, he was the soul of the house of Chanel. He had been creating haute couture and pret-a-porter collections up throughout his life. He died on February 19, 2019, at the age of 85.
Over the years, the desire to move to Paris grew. After attending a Dior show in Hamburg in 1950, his mind was made up and in 1953 he and his mother moved to the fashion capital. He quickly made a name for himself: At just 20 years of age, he took first place in a fashion competition with a coat design. Yves Saint Laurent also participated, but only finished third.
Just a few years later, he was working with Pierre Balmain and Jean Patou. By 1963, he became artistic director for the first time. At Chloe he set trends himself, founding the Total Look in 1967, the unity of clothing and accessories. Fendi in Rome was also impressed with the young designer from Germany, hiring him in the mid-1960s for his fur and leather collection.
However, Paris retained a special place in Lagerfeld's life and legacy. Upon his death, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the designer "was not just an embodiment of Paris: he was Paris."
"His art gave color and shape to love, to refinement, to the astounding and the wonderful," she added in a series of condolence tweets.
By 1976, Lagerfeld had acquired his famous dandy look, complete with a distinctive 18th-century-inspired clothing style, ponytail, which he powdered himself, and the dark sunglasses that were his trademark up till his death.
Lagerfeld's landmark career move was in 1983 when then behind-the-times Chanel appointed him creative director. The designer was able to make the label appear more modern and appealing to young women, integrating new colors, modified cuts and other fabrics. Chanel without Lagerfeld? It now seems impossible.
But Lagerfeld was not content with Chanel alone. In 1984, he established his own label, aptly called Karl Lagerfeld, which offers everything from men's and women's fashion to children's clothes and accessories.
Jack-of-all-trades
Yet fashion wasn't everything for Lagerfeld. A passionate reader and book collector, he also took photographs, created advertising campaigns, made short movies for various fashion companies, designed hotels around the world, founded a publishing company and established his own art gallery.
Immersing himself in work might be linked to having lost his life companion Jacques de Bascher to AIDS in 1989. But it was also typical of Lagerfeld to never be content with the status quo. "You might as well just throw in the towel if you're just going to rest on your laurels," he said dryly in the documentary Germany, Your Artists: Karl Lagerfeld.
High Five: 5 of Karl Lagerfeld's most outrageous comments
Whether it's about models, cats or sweatpants — no one knew just what outrageous comment fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld would utter next. Here is a roundup of our favorites.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Guillot
Lagerfeld on sweatpants
"Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life, so you bought some sweatpants," said the fashion designer on a German talk show in 2012. Two years later, he sent Chanel models out on the catwalk in his own stylish sweatpants and didn't seem to care. He was true to his motto: I'm not interested in yesterday's gossip.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Karaba
Lagerfeld on beauty
The fickleness of the fashion world perfectly embodies Karl Lagerfeld. Trends come and go, and there's certainly plenty of fluctuation when it comes to models on the catwalk. In Lagerfeld's words: "Anyone considered beautiful today will find it hard to even land a cleaning job tomorrow." The couturier stayed true to his words, and changed his muses regularly.
Image: Getty Images for Chanel/K. Nagahama
Lagerfeld on cats
Lagerfeld would never say a bad word about his cat. Choupette was his one-and-only, and she traveled in his private jet around the world eating gourmet food. In 2013, he shocked with this declaration of love: "I never thought that I would fall in love like this with a cat," he said. "If I could, I would marry Choupette." Real emotions or a marketing ploy? Regardless, it definitely drew attention.
Image: DW
Lagerfeld on eccentricity
He powdered his hair white, drove a Rolls-Royce and always wore sunglasses and black gloves. At night, the designer supposedly slept in a long, white nightshirt, in which he also liked to draw. But Lagerfeld didn't find it funny. "I am very grounded, just not on this Earth," he said of his lifestyle. Not hard to believe.
Image: Getty Images/P. Le Segretain
Lagerfeld on stress
He once called for a 48-hour day, because 24 hours simply weren't enough. Lagerfeld was a workaholic that remained bustling in his 80s. Every year, Chanel's eight collections featured his works, as did numerous collaborations. His motto was: "I don't know stress, I know only rhinestones!" A quote that definitely works better in German, where rhinestone is "strass."
