It’s with sadness that we report the news of the passing of LEGENDARY designer, Karl Lagerfeld. Mr Lagerfeld, who began his career in Paris as a fashion assistant to Pierre Balmain, passed away at the age of 85. Fashion house Chanel reps have confirmed the passing and its been reported that he passed away at a Paris hospital due to a short illness attributed to pancreatic cancer. For the first time, he did not take a bow following 2 Chanel fashion show including Chanel’s Couture Show in Paris last month. He was at the Chanel Metiers D’Art 2018/19 Show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in December but there was no word given of his sickness at the time. He did make an appearance at Hedi Slimane’s inaugural collection show for Celine.
Gabrielle Coco Chanel may have built the house of Chanel but Karl Lagerfeld was the man that moved it to the luxury aspirational brand it is today. He didn’t only design for Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld also served as designer for Fendi as well as his eponymous brand Karl Lagerfeld. Karl Lagerfeld’s contribution to fashion is innumerable. The designer, photographer, artist, writer and so much more was born in Hamburg Germany but moved to Paris in his 20s to pursue his career in fashion. After wining a coat design competition sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat, Paris, in December 1954 he landed an apprenticeship with designer Pierre Balmain. He designed for the fashion house Chloe and then began designing for Chanel in 1983 spending 30 years with the fashion brand.
Lagerfeld will be succeeded by Virginie Viard, Chanel’s fashion creation studio director
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