Karl Lagerfeld has died in Paris at the age of 85, according to sources close to the Chanel designer. Lagerfeld had been suffering ill health for several weeks and was absent for two of Chanel's haute couture shows in Paris last month.
French magazine Paris Match reports that the iconic and controversial designer, who was Chanel's creative director, was hospitalised on Monday night and passed away on Tuesday morning.
The exact cause of Lagerfeld's death is not yet known, but concerns have surrounded his health for several weeks.
In a statement in January, following Lagerfeld's absence, Chanel said the designer had been "feeling tired" and that the fashion house had "asked Virginie Viard, director of the creative studio of the house, to represent him." It was the first time he had not taken a bow on the catwalk at the end of a Chanel show.
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Lagerfeld, who was German and was born on 10th September 1933 in Hamburg, presided over Chanel for more than three decades after taking over the iconic French fashion house in 1983. He was also in charge of creative direction for the Italian fur and leather goods fashion house Fendi, as well as his own eponymous fashion label. He was also a published photographer, an author of several books, including the weight-loss guide, The Karl Lagerfeld Diet, and creator of the bookshop 7L in Paris, which specialises in photography and art, design, architecture and fashion.
Known for his signature outfit of a black suit, high collar, dark sunglasses, a slicked-back ponytail and fingerless gloves, Lagerfeld was no stranger to controversy. He famously described Adele as "a little too fat" in 2012, and caused outrage just last year for his comments on migrants.
Lagerfeld leaves behind his much-loved and Instagram-famous cat Choupette.
The fashion world has begun paying tribute to the legendary designer, with many describing him as a visionary. “Today the world lost a giant among men," said Condé Nast Artistic Director and Vogue editor in chief, Anna Wintour, of her friend. "Karl was so much more than our greatest and most prolific designer—his creative genius was breathtaking and to be his friend was an exceptional gift. Karl was brilliant, he was wicked, he was funny, he was generous beyond measure, and he was deeply kind. I will miss him so very much.”
“To design is to breathe, so if I can’t breathe I’m in trouble” RIP @KarlLagerfeld #karlargerfeld ?
— henry holland (@henryholland) February 19, 2019
Karl Lagerfeld, the most prolific designer of the 20th and 21st centuries, the definition of a fashion polyglot, and the mastermind of his own myth, has died. He was 85. We will not see his like again - https://t.co/vqYVIPWp4I
— Vanessa Friedman (@VVFriedman) February 19, 2019