Karl Lagerfeld, the designer who ruled over Chanel for decades, dies
PARIS:KARL Lagerfeld, the German fashion designer who helped set the industry standard for five decades with collections that dressed celebrities such as Princess Diana and supermodel Claudia Schiffer, has died.
Chanel announced Lagerfeld’s death Tuesday in a statement. The creative director at closely held Chanel for more than 35 years, Lagerfeld was among the fashion trade’s most prolific couturiers, producing outfits for the Parisbased luxury-goods maker, for Italy’s Fendi SPA and for his own label, all at the same time.
Recognisable for his highcollared shirts, white ponytail, dark sunglasses and black fingerless gloves, Lagerfeld had a client list that featured stars of the stage and screen, including actresses Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett as well as singers Jennifer Lopez, Madonna and Kylie Minogue.
“I must readily admit that Ms Kidman is my favourite,” Lagerfeld said in a 2002 interview on “Larry King Live.”
“If one is allowed to have a weakness for an actress, that is not a crime. I think she’s absolutely divine.”
The Paris-based fashion guru, who earned the nickname “Kaiser Karl” for an uncompromising approach to his work, joined Chanel in 1983, more than a decade after the death of founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.
He set about reviving the French maker of perfume and accessories with a modern look on its ready-to-wear lines, helping it become one of the industry’s most successful companies.
Lagerfeld said in The World According to Karl, a 2013 book of his quotes: “I do what she never did. I had to find my mark. I had to go from what Chanel was to what it should be, could be, what it had been to something else.”
An accomplished photographer who counted Helmut Newton and Andy Warhol as friends, Lagerfeld was the No 1 designer at Chanel. He considered the shirt the most important fashion item; defended Fendi’s use of fur against the protests of animal-rights activists; and said that wearing sweatpants is a sign “you lost control of your life.”
Vogue crowned him the “unparalleled interpreter of the mood of the moment” in 1997.
Lagerfeld, who shed 90 pounds so he could wear slimmer clothing in his 60s, was often portrayed as eccentric for his rigorous diet and unusual behaviour. He once gave an entire interview to
Harper’s Bazaar about his cat, Choupette, with whom he shared a special bond. His public comments also betrayed a willingness to offend anyone, taking aim at German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s choice of pants, US first lady Michelle Obama’s hairstyle and the body weight of English singer Adele.
Born Karl Lagerfeldt on September 10, 1933, in Hamburg, he later dropped the final letter in his surname to make his fashion brand more marketable. Lagerfeld’s year of birth is sometimes given as 1938, a discrepancy that he refused to solve in interviews.
His parents were Elisabeth Bahlmann, who was Swedish, and Otto Lagerfeldt, who made a fortune producing condensed milk in France and selling it in Germany. Lagerfeld had an older sister, Martha, and a half-sister, Thea.