Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld dead at 85 - Sydney Morning Herald

Karl Lagerfeld, pictured in November, has died at age 85.Credit:AP

Paris: German-born haute couture designer Karl Lagerfeld, artistic director at Chanel and an icon of the global fashion industry for over half a century, has died. He was 85.

Lagerfeld, instantly recognisable in his dark suits, pony-tailed white hair and sunglasses, was best known for his association with Chanel, but he also delivered collections for LVMH's Fendi and his own eponymous label.

He 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.

"What I do Coco would have hated," 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."

Rumours of Lagerfeld's ill-health had swirled after he missed Chanel's January show in Paris, failing to come out to take a bow at the house's couture collections.

Australian Sudanese model Adut Akech had been the "bride" in the finale of Chanel's show in Paris.

"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," LVMH chairman and chief executive Bernard Arnault said in a statement.

"We owe him a great deal: his taste and talent were the most exceptional I have ever known."

Vogue editor Anna Wintour said during a visit to Melbourne in January: "I am devoted to Chanel, devoted to Karl Lagerfeld, he's been a beacon of inspiration to me ever since I've worked in fashion."

Vogue editor Anna Wintour (left, at Chanel's show in 2017) was among Karl Lagerfeld's biggest devotees.Credit:AP

Among the first big names in fashion to pay tribute to Lagerfeld were Donatella Versace, US InStyle editor Australian Laura Brown, and model and designer Alexa Chung.

A true craftsman who combined artistic instinct, business acumen and commensurate ego, Lagerfeld was known for his strikingly visual fashion show displays and extravagant outfits.

Born Karl Lagerfeldt in Hamburg in 1933, he dropped the final letter in his surname to make his fashion brand more marketable. His year of birth is sometimes given as 1938, a discrepancy that he refused to solve in interviews.

Lagerfeld's parents were Elisabeth Bahlmann, who was Swedish, and Otto Lagerfeldt, who made a fortune producing condensed milk in France and selling it in Germany.

He made his debut with designer Pierre Balmain as an apprentice before moving on to Patou and Chloe and then Italian brand Fendi. He gained a rock-star status after he joined Chanel in 1983.

He earned the nicknames "Kaiser Karl" and "Fashion Meister".

An accomplished photographer who counted Helmut Newton and Andy Warhol as friends, Lagerfeld 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.

French media reported Lagerfeld died on Tuesday morning after being taken to hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, just outside Paris, the night before.

A spokesman for Chanel was not immediately available for comment.

Reuters, Bloomberg with additional reporting by Melissa Singer