Karl Lagerfeld — designer, photographer, publisher, and one of fashion’s most extraordinary personalities — passed away on 19 February 2019 at the age of 85, following complications from pancreatic cancer. He had served as creative director of Chanel for 36 years, as well as holding the creative reins at Fendi and his own eponymous label. His death marked the end of an era. Yet his legacy — in fashion, in culture, and in the many institutions he built — endures.
Here are ten fascinating facts about one of the most eccentric, prolific, and irreplaceable figures fashion has ever produced.
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Karl Lagerfeld
1. He owned over 100 iPods and had a custom Louis Vuitton bag to carry them
Lagerfeld was a devoted early adopter of technology — in his own highly specific way. He amassed a collection of over 100 iPods and commissioned a custom Louis Vuitton bag to transport them. Music, like everything in his life, had to be done with the right accessories.
2. He founded a bookshop in Paris that still operates today
In 1999, Lagerfeld opened Librairie 7L at 7 Rue de Lille in Paris — a photography studio, bookshop, and private library rolled into one extraordinary space. He also launched a publishing imprint, Éditions 7L, in collaboration with publisher Gerhard Steidl. Lagerfeld reportedly knew the inventory of his 33,000-volume collection by heart. Following his death, the bookshop was reconceived as a cultural space and is now operated by Chanel, offering public access to the bookshop alongside a programme of events, exhibitions, and readings. It remains one of Paris’s most quietly legendary addresses.
3. He dropped the ‘t’ from his surname to sound more commercial
Lagerfeld was born with the surname ‘Lagerfeldt’. He deliberately dropped the final ‘t’ early in his career — a small but deliberate act of personal rebranding that prefigured a lifetime of meticulous image control.
4. He designed what was billed as the world’s most expensive safe
In 2010, Lagerfeld collaborated with German luxury safe maker Döttling to create a piece called ‘Narcissus’ — presented at the time as the world’s most expensive safe. It was, of course, exquisitely designed. Only Lagerfeld could make security beautiful.
5. He refused to use a mobile phone and preferred letters and faxes
Despite his fondness for technology in other areas, Lagerfeld famously declined to own a mobile phone throughout his life. He preferred to correspond by handwritten letter or fax — a deliberate, characteristically contrarian choice from a man who seemed to do everything on his own terms.
6. He designed a collection of luxury pens for S.T. Dupont
In 2011, Lagerfeld lent his sensibility to French luxury brand S.T. Dupont, designing a collection of limited edition pens. Given his lifelong attachment to sketching, drawing, and writing, it was one of the more fitting collaborations of his career.
7. He sketched all his designs using Shu Uemura nail polish
Lagerfeld was a prolific and rapid sketcher — he could reportedly produce detailed fashion illustrations in seconds. His chosen medium for those early sketches was Shu Uemura nail varnish, applied with precision to capture an idea the moment it arrived. The collaboration between Lagerfeld and the brand ran deep: his cat Choupette later fronted a Shu Uemura beauty campaign in Japan, earning millions in the process.
8. His cat Choupette became one of the most famous animals in fashion history
In December 2011, Lagerfeld ‘borrowed’ a white Birman kitten called Choupette from a model he was house-sitting for — and simply never gave her back. The cat became his closest companion and, by his own admission, the love of his life. Choupette went on to front a Shu Uemura campaign in Japan, modelled alongside Naomi Campbell and Gisele Bündchen, and earned more than €3 million in a single year from brand partnerships. Lagerfeld once said he would have married her if it were legal. Following his death in 2019, Choupette passed into the care of his former housekeeper Françoise Caçote, who continues to look after her. Now in her mid-teens, Choupette recently celebrated her 13th birthday at the Palace of Versailles — as one would expect.
9. He was famous for his sharp and unfiltered opinions
Lagerfeld never shied away from expressing a view — on fashion, politics, or public figures — with a directness that made him a constant source of column inches. He was equally capable of great generosity and stinging dismissal, and his quotations remain among the most memorable in fashion. His opinions frequently caused controversy, particularly in his later years, and he acknowledged as much with characteristic insouciance.
10. He voiced a character in Grand Theft Auto IV
Lagerfeld hosted the fictional radio station ‘K109 — The Studio’ in Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto IV, released in 2008. It was an unexpected cameo for a Chanel creative director — but then, Lagerfeld rarely did anything entirely predictably. The station played electronic and ambient music and featured Lagerfeld as a sardonic, fictional host. It remains one of the more surreal footnotes in fashion history.
Karl Lagerfeld died on 19 February 2019. He was 85 years old. His influence on fashion, photography, and visual culture remains immeasurable. The 2023 Met Gala was dedicated entirely to his legacy.
