Fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld passes away aged 85

News broke this morning – 19 February 2019 – of the death of one of contemporary fashion’s biggest names and most famous faces. Reports emerging from Paris state that Karl Lagerfeld, the imposing and imperious creative director of French fashion house Chanel, has passed away at the age of 85.

Known equally for his own distinct look – the designer was rarely, if ever, seen without his trademark combination of dark shades and a neck-pinching high collar–- as those he adorned countless catwalks with, rumours have been circulating over recent weeks around Lagerfeld’s health. He recently missed Chanel’s haute couture show.

Born in 1933 in pre-war Hamburg, Lagerfeld worked in the fashion industry since 1955, when an International Wool Secretariat prize led to him being hired as Pierre Balmain’s assistant. A controversial, and seemingly intense character, Lagerfeld went on to be arguably the best-known embodiment of high fashion and all it stands for.

The cause of his death is as yet unknown and unreported.