THE LIFE OF KARL

1933

Karl Otto Lagerfeldt is born on 10 September in Hamburg, Germany

1952

After dropping the last letter of his name to make it ‘more commercial’, Lagerfeld moves to Paris with the blessing of his parents to study drawing and history

1954

The 21-year-old wins the coats category of design competition International Wool Secretariat in Paris. Fellow designer Yves Saint Laurent, (left), who would go on to be Lagerfeld’s long-term rival, wins in the dress category

1955

After the competition, Lagerfeld takes a job as design assistant to Pierre Balmain and, in 1957, becomes art director for Jean Patou (left)

1965

Following a short stint freelancing at Chloé, Lagerfeld becomes creative director at Fendi, a position he holds for the rest of his life. He later takes on a creative lead role at Chloé, in 1974

1976

He begins wearing his hair in a low ponytail, which, along with dark glasses and fingerless gloves, will become his signature look

1983

More than a decade after Coco Chanel’s death, Lagerfeld joins a struggling Chanel. The label has only been producing ready-towear for five years

1983

He soon introduces the interlocking ‘CC’ logo to Chanel belts, bags and jewellery. Coco Chanel’s classic 2.55 bag (so named because it launched in February 1955) is given a makeover to include the ‘CC’ on its flap

1984

Launches the first of his own eponymous brands, Karl Lagerfeld

1991

He casts young French singer Vanessa Paradis as a Chanel ambassador; she follows in the footsteps of Linda Evangelista, Inès de la Fressange and Jerry Hall. Cara Delevingne and Paradis’s daughter Lily-rose Depp (right) will later become faces of the brand

2002

After he rapidly sheds 90lb on a diet that includes eating tuna and yogurt in order to wear Hedi Slimane’s Dior Homme suits, The Karl Lagerfeld Diet is released by Metro Books. It becomes a bestseller in France

2003

Lagerfeld – synonymous with fur thanks mainly to his Fendi collections – is targeted by animalrights organisation Peta during a show in New York

2004

Lagerfeld sells his ownname labels to Tommy Hilfiger, but maintains full design involvement

2011

He receives the Gordon Parks Foundation Award in recognition of his work as a designer, film-maker and photographer

2011

Lagerfeld, who was known to chain-drink up to 10 Diet Cokes a day, designs a limited-edition range of bottles for the brand. Around this time, he is given his beloved Birman cat Choupette

2016

By now known for his grand catwalk-show sets, Lagerfeld creates a giant computer for his spring/summer 2017 show. Models wear futuristic masks with tweed skirt suits

2019

Following a period of ill health, Lagerfeld passes away in Paris on 19 February, aged 85

8 Lagerfeld in his home in 1984

14 US Vogue editorin-chief and Met Gala co-chief Anna Wintour is ‘Cardinal Chanel’, 2018

13 A feminist ‘protest’ at ‘Boulevard Chanel’ for spring/summer 2015

10 With models including Turlington (second right) and Claudia Schiffer (far right) in the 1990s

12 Hand-in-hand with Cara Delevingne at the Chanel ‘supermarket’ catwalk show, September 2014

6 Lagerfeld’s spring/ summer 1985 runway in Paris, October 1984

11 A drawing by Lagerfeld in couture embroiderer François Lesage’s Paris workshop, July 2006

7 Another catwalk look from the collection

9 Christy Turlington walks for Chanel, spring/summer 1994