Iconic couturier who defined fashion for over 50 years dies

CHANEL’S Karl Lagerfeld, whose accomplished designs as well as trademark white ponytail, high starched collars and dark glasses dominated high fashion for some 50 years, has died.

He was around 85 years old, having never revealed his real age.

German-born Lagerfeld was of the most hard-working figures in the fashion world holding down the top design jobs at LVMHowned luxury label Fendi from 1977, and Paris’ family-owned powerhouse Chanel in 1983.

Though he spent virtually his entire career at luxury labels catering to the very wealthy, Lagerfeld’s designs quickly trickled down to low-end retailers, giving him an almost unprecedented impact on the entire fashion industry.

At Chanel, he served up youthful designs that were always of the moment and sent out almost infinite variations on the house’s classic skirt suit, ratcheting up the hemlines or smothering it in golden chains, stings of pearls or pricy accessories.

They were always delivered with wit.

“Each season, they tell me (the Chanel designs) look younger, one day we’ll all turn up like babies,” he once said.

His outspoken and often stinging remarks on things as diverse as French politics and celebrity waistlines won him the nickname “Kaiser Karl” in the fashion media.

Among the most acid comments included calling President Francois Hollande an “imbecile” who would be “disastrous” for France in Marie-Claire.

Despite this, he did have an under-reported soft side.

He was known to be very kind to his staff at Chanel, and was famous for according journalists generously long interviews after each fashion show.

Lagerfeld was open about his homosexuality — he once said he announced it to his parents at age 13 — but kept his private life under wraps.

Following his widely known relationship with a French aristocrat who died of AIDS in 1989, Lagerfeld insisted he prized his solitude above all.

“I hate when people say I’m ‘solitaire’ (or solitary). Yes, I’m solitaire in the sense of a stone from Cartier,” he said.

As much as he loved the spotlight, Lagerfeld was careful to obscure his real self.

“It’s not that I lie, it’s that I don’t owe the truth to anyone,” he said.

(AP)