"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.

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.

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.

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.

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."