Karl Lagerfeld Net Worth – A Famous Fashion Designer

Karl Lagerfeld was a German photographer and fashion designer. He was famous for giving the Chanel brand a new life. Karl was the creative director of Chanel from 1983 till his death. He also worked as the creative director of Fendi from 1965 till his death. Both brands had lifelong contracts with Lagerfeld.

Karl was known as the most successful fashion designer of the 20th and 21st centuries. In 1984, he established his own fashion brand, Karl Lagerfeld. He also released many photo books of his own pictures, such as "Madonna Superstar: Photographs" and "Off the Record".

Karl Lagerfeld Net Worth

Karl Lagerfeld net worth was $300 million when he died in February 2019. At the age of 22, Lagerfeld started his professional career in fashion. Lagerfeld had lifelong contracts with Chanel and Fendi. He earned at least $50 million a year from the two contracts.

Karl Lagerfeld started his career in fashion in the 1950s; he worked for a lot of famous houses, such as Chloe, Patou, and Balmain, before joining Chanel. He played an important role in restoring the Chanel brand and helping in its journey to the top of the global fashion industry. Lagerfeld was famous for his high-starched detachable collars, fingerless gloves, black sunglasses, and white hair.

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Early Life

Karl Lagerfeld was born on 10 September ,1933 in Hamburg, Germany. He was the son of Elisabeth and Otto. His father owned a company which produced and imported evaporated milk. When his mother, Elisabeth, met his father, she was working as a saleswoman at a lingerie shop.

Karl Lagerfeld had an older sister, Martha. He also had a step-sister, Theodora, from his father's first marriage. During his childhood, Lagerfeld had an interest in the visual arts. Lagerfeld was famous for lying about his age to look younger than his actual age.

He insisted that no one knows his real date of birth and said that he was born in 1935. Later on, it was confirmed by his birth records that his real date of birth was 1933.

Career

Lagerfeld came to Paris when he was 14 years old. Two years later, he joined a design competition held by the International Wool Secretariat. In the coat category, he won first place. Yves Saint Laurent, the dress category winner, became his friend.

He was hired as a junior assistant by Pierre Balmain who was a judge for the competition. Later on, he started working as an assistant at Balmain. After three years at Balmain, Lagerfeld joined Jean Patou as artistic director. He traveled to Rome in 1964 to continue his studies in art history.

During his studies, he also worked for a fashion house named as Tiziani. He then started working as a freelance designer for companies like Valentino and Chloe.

Karl was hired by Fendi in 1967 to update the brand's fur line, and he spent his remaining life working for Fendi Rome. Lagerfeld was hired by Chanel in the early 1980s, ten years after Coco Chanel's death, and he renewed the brand and its ready-to-wear collection.

In 1984, he created the Karl Lagerfeld brand, and his goal was to show "imaginative beauty." Karl and Diesel creator Renzo Rosso worked together in 2002 to create a collection of denim for the Lagerfeld Gallery.

The collection was named as Lagerfeld Gallery by Diesel. Five limited edition pieces of this collection were sold at Lagerfeld Galleries in Monaco and Paris and Diesel Denim Galleries in Tokyo and New York. In New York, more than 90% of the jeans sold out in the first week, with a price range between $240 and $1,840.

Karl Lagerfeld created a new brand, Karl Lagerfeld, in 2006, which sells jeans and T-shirts for men and women. In 2008, he designed a teddy bear in his style, which was sold for $1,500. In 2010, the Fashion Institute of Technology presented him with The Couture Council Fashion Visionary Award. Next year, he collaborated with Orrefors on a crystal art collection.

In 2013, he directed a short film named as Once Upon a Time. Lagerfeld's final Chanel collection was presented at a fashion show after a few weeks of his death. The show had chairs with photos of Karl and Coco Chanel with the tagline "the beat goes on," and there was a moment of silence in his honor.

Personal Life

For 18 years, Karl had a relationship with a French model, Jacques de Bascher. Acques died of AIDS in the late 1980s, and during the last moments of de Bascher's life, Karl remained by his side in the hospital.

Karl Lagerfeld cat is named as Choupette. Lagerfeld got this Birman cat as a Christmas gift in 2011. According to different sources, the designer named the cat in his will in 2015, and he left 1.5 million dollars for its care and maintenance.

Karl Lagerfeld included 5 persons and his cat Choupette in his will, but it was found in June 2020 that no one had received their money. Lagerfeld selected Lucien Frydlender, his accountant, to manage the estate. Frydlender stopped working in September 2019 because of illness and he refused to speak with the people Karl Lagerfeld mentioned in his will.

Lagerfeld's estate includes an "18th century apartment with nine bedrooms in Paris," as well as houses in Vermont and Biarritz, France, and a £25 million Monaco condominium. In March 2021, Sotheby's announced that many of Karl's things would be sold in Monaco.

Death of Karl Lagerfeld

On February 18th, he was taken to the American Hospital of Paris due to pancreatic cancer and died the next day. Before his death, Lagerfeld requested to mix his ashes with the ashes of his mother and with his cat if she died first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How much did Karl Lagerfeld's cat inherit?

Ans: Karl Lagerfeld's cat Choupette was left a $1.5 million inheritance.

Q. How rich is Karl Lagerfeld's cat?

Ans: Karl Lagerfeld's cat, Choupette, is the third richest cat in the world.

Q. How was the age of Karl Lagerfeld when he died?

Ans: He died at the age of 85.