Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Karl Lagerfeld dead at the age of 85




Karl Lagerfeld has died at the age of 85, according to reports in France

The fashion world paid tribute to celebrity designer Karl Lagerfeld today after his death at the age of 85 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
The German born fashion “Kaiser” - known for his trademark look of dark sunglasses, high collars and white ponytail - was admitted to the American Hospital on the outskirts of Paris last night and passed away early this morning.

According to sources who were close to Lagerfeld, he was rushed to hospital while suffering from the disease.
“He hadn’t gone on about his illness, but battled it very bravely,” said one source. “Karl was very proud of his fitness and healthy living, so the pancreatic cancer came as a huge shock.”



The latest tributes to Karl Lagerfeld LIVE 

Rumours about Lagerfeld’s failing health had been circulating for several weeks after he failed to appear at the end of the Chanel spring/summer haute couture show in Paris for the first time. At the time aides said he was too “tired” to attend.
The designer, who up until his death was the creative director at Fendi, Chanel and his eponymous label, was thought to have been working right up until his death, even directing and passing on instructions to his team about the Fendi autumn/winter 2019 collection which is due to be shown at Milan Fashion Week this Thursday.

His death brings an end a remarkable 64 year career creating clothes for the world’s most famous women. It started in 1955 when he was hired as an assistant to Pierre Balmain.


As news of his death began to circulate through the fashion world, shocked admirers took to social media.

Victoria Beckham: “So incredibly sad to hear this. Karl was a genius and always so kind and generous to me both personally and professionally. RIP.”
Designer and creative director of Dior Homme Kim Jones said: “Total respect, rest in peace.”
Model Gigi Hadid posted: “I’m so heartbroken I almost don’t have words. There will never be a Karl Lagerfeld. Every second with you was an honor, joy, and inspiration. I wish I could give you one last hug. I love you Karl, thank you for everything. Rest in Peace.”
Presenter Myleene Klass said: “Karl Lagerfeld, a man whose talent I worshiped. Goodbye to the Titan of the fashion world.”

Model Alexa Chung said: “Rest in peace, Karl. I remember being so scared to interview you and yet you were in fact incredibly witty and generous. Thank you for inviting me to some of the most glamorous experiences of my life, it was an honour to know you. Oh yeah and thanks for the dry shampoo tip, will always think of you as I powder my wig.”
Singer Lily Allen wrote: “You made me feel like a princess. I never quite understood what you saw in me but I am forever grateful for the support that you and Chanel have given me over the last 15 years. Rest In Peace Karl, you were a true genius and will be missed, so much.”
Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, which owns Fendi, said: “With the passing of Karl Lagerfeld we have lost a creative genius who helped to make Paris the fashion capital of the world and Fendi one of the most innovative Italian houses.

“We owe him a great deal: his taste and talent were the most exceptional I have ever known. I will always remember his immense imagination, his ability to conceive new trends for every season, his inexhaustible energy, the virtuosity of his drawings, his carefully guarded independence, his encyclopedic culture, and his unique wit and eloquence. Fashion and culture has lost a great inspiration.”
He has been creative director at Chanel since 1985 and other other fans have included Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Princess Diana.
Bruno Pavlovsky, President of Fashion at Chanel, said: “Fashion show after fashion show, collection after collection, Karl Lagerfeld left his mark on the legend of Gabrielle Chanel and the history of the House of Chanel. He steadfastly promoted the talent and expertise of Chanel’s ateliers and Métiers d’Art, allowing this exceptional know-how to shine throughout the world. The greatest tribute we can pay today is to continue to follow the path he traced by – to quote Karl – ‘continuing to embrace the present and invent the future’.”

The fashion house also announced that Lagerfeld's longtime collaborator and Director of Chanel's Creation Fashion Studio, Virginie Viard, would continue with the creative work of the autumn/winter 2019 collection which will be shown at Paris Fashion Week Tuesday, March 5. 
Lagerfeld was well known for entertaining at his lavish apartment on the Paris’s Left Bank, which he shared with the socialite Jacques de Bascher, up until his death from Aids in 1989.
The designer was the proud owner of a cat named Choupette, whom in 2013 he said he would ‘gladly marry’ if it were legal. The cat, reportedly given as a gift to the designer by French model Baptiste Giabiconi in December 2011, had its own Twitter and Instagram pages, with a combined following of about 200,000.

He was born to an affluent family in Hamburg in 1933 and is said to have fallen in love with fashion when he accompanied his monther to a Dior show in 1949. 
In 1954 he won first prize in the coat category in a competition run by the International Wool Secretariat. The best dress award in the same contest went to a teenage Yves Saint-Laurent, sparking a life long rivalry.
Over the next six decades he worked for many of the world’s most prestigious design houses including Chloe and Fendi and also designed ranges for H&M as well as setting up his own brand.

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