Fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld dead at 85

Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel’s artistic director has died aged 85. Last month, Lagerfeld missed the fashion house’s haute couture show in Paris, fuelling speculation about his health.

In a statement read out after he missed the show, said: "Mr Lagerfeld, artistic director of Chanel, who was feeling tired, asked Virginie Viard, director of the creative studio of the house, to represent him."

It was the first time he had ever missed giving a catwalk bow at the end of a Chanel show.

The iconic designer began his career as an assistant to Pierre Balmain in 1955 and joined Chanel in 1983, a decade after Coco Chanel died. He spent a record-breaking 36 years at the house.

Born Karl Otto Lagerfeldt in 1933 in pre-war Germany. Lagerfeld changed his original surname from Lagerfeldt, believing it sounded "more commercial".

Lagerfeld became instantly recognisable in his later years as he began to sport dark suits, white pony-tailed haired and tinted sunglasses. Below are some of the first to pay tribute to the Chanel mogul.

“To design is to breathe, so if I can’t breathe I’m in trouble” RIP @KarlLagerfeld #karlargerfeld 😥

— henry holland (@henryholland) February 19, 2019