Karl Lagerfeld Dies In Paris At 85

Karl Lagerfeld has died in Paris at the age of 85, according to sources close to the Chanel designer. Lagerfeld had been ill 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 designer, who was Chanel's creative director, was hospitalized 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 given a bow on the catwalk at the end of a Chanel show.

Lagerfeld, who was German and was born on 10th September 1933 in Hamburg, entered the industry in 1955 as assistant to couturier Pierre Balmain. After earlier stints at Chloe and Fendi, he presided over Chanel for more than three decades after taking over the iconic French fashion house in 1983. Indeed, he is widely credited with resuscitating the Chanel brand; he revived the now-globally-ubiquitous interlocked "CC" logo. “Everybody said, ‘Don’t touch it, it’s dead, it will never come back.’ But by then I thought it was a challenge,” Lagerfeld told the New Yorker in a 2007 profile. He was also in charge of creative direction for the Italian fur and leather goods fashion house Fendi and his own eponymous fashion label. In addition, he was 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 specializes in tomes about photo and art, design, architecture and fashion.

Best known for his signature outfit of a black suit, high collars, dark sunglasses and a white slicked back ponytail, fingerless gloves and dark glasses, Lagerfeld was consistently outspoken — sharing his wit and singular opinions in many memorable interviews over the years. He 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. 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," Vogue's Anna Wintour said. "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.”