He was known as the Emperor, a design superstar and one history's most important fashion icons.
Karl Lagerfeld, who has died in Paris, was best known for turning around the ailing fortunes of French label Chanel, now one of the world’s fashion powerhouses.
But his achievements hid a darker side to the eccentric German designer, who also made headlines for provocative, and sometimes downright abhorrent, remarks.
And as some in the fashion world rushed to pay gushing tributes, others were more hesitant to lavish praise on someone whose statements revealed held 'fat-phobic' and misogynistic views.
They included calling Adele “a little too fat”, saying Princess Diana was “stupid” and telling models who complained about sexual harassment to “join a nunnery”.
The style icon, known for wearing sunglasses, a black suit and a white shirt, with his grey hair pulled back into a ponytail, died in hospital on Tuesday aged 85 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Model Cara Delevigne said she had been reduced to tears by the news, adding that Lagerfeld “changed my life”.
And Vogue magazine editor-in-chief Anna Wintour said: “Today the world lost a giant among men.”
Others, however, criticised the outpouring of grief and urged people not to forget his less-than-elegant side.
Actress Jameela Jamil said the designer was “talented for sure, but not the best person”.
“A ruthless, fat-phobic misogynist shouldn’t be posted all over the internet as a saint gone-too-soon,” she tweeted.
Lagerfeld transformed Chanel during a 36-year tenure as creative director at the fashion house.
Once known for sensible tweed tow-pieces, the label became synonymous with show-stopping couture and futuristic minis - as well as extravagant fashion shows in wildly inventive settings, including a supermarket, an iceberg and even the launch of a double-C branded rocket.
As of 2019, he he boasted an A-list following including the likes of Keira Knightley and Kristen Stewart, and Chanel was turning over around £7.7bn a year.
But as he became increasingly lauded as a remarkable design icon, his unguarded remarks during interviews started to reveal beliefs which, unlike his designs, were astonishingly out of touch.
While the #MeToo Movement was calling out sexual harassment and fighting for fairer treatment of women, Lagerfeld had other, antiquated, ideas.
When asked about his thoughts on pro-woman movement, he said he was “fed up with it”.
“What shocks me most in all of this are the starlets who have taken 20 years to remember what happened. Not to mention the fact there are no prosecution witnesses. That said I cannot stand Mr Weinstein,” he said.
He later added: "If you don’t want your pants pulled about, don’t become a model! Join a nunnery, there’ll always be a place for you in the convent. They’re recruiting even!"
And he slammed male models who had also made harassment allegations, saying he tried not to work with them.
He said: “Having to put up with all those stupid models, no thanks.
“Not to mention the fact with all their accusations of harassment they have become quite toxic. No, no, no, don't leave me alone with one of those sordid creatures."
The designer also caused uproar by slamming German Chancellor Angela Merkel on a French TV show in 2017 for accepting Muslim immigrants into the country.
He said: "One cannot - even if there are decades between them - kill millions of Jews so you can bring millions of their worst enemies in their place."
Claiming Germany’s policy of accepting refugees from war-torn Muslim countries was a “huge error”, he said she “had already millions and millions [of immigrants] who are well integrated and who work and all is well… she had no need to take another million to improve her image.”
The French broadcasting regulatory commission launched an inquiry in his comments following public complaints.
Largerfeld’s aversion to women who weren’t as slim as the skinny models he sent on his catwalks was also evident.
After a push to see more plus-size women in fashion shows and magazines, he said: “No one wants to see curvy women. You’ve got fat mothers with their bags of chips sitting in front of the television and saying thin models are ugly. Fashion is about dreams and illusion.”
A well-known music lover, in 2012 he said: “I prefer Adele and Florence Welch. But as a modern singer she is not bad.
“The thing at the moment is Adele. She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice.”
He was slammed for his comments and later apologised - kind of.
In a 2013 CNN interview, he reiterated how much he loved Adele’s music and said the quote had been taken out of context, adding that he had said Adele was a “little roundish.”
It wasn’t his only acid-tongued jibe aimed, for the most part, on well-known women.
In a 2006 interview with New York magazine, Lagerfeld said of Princess Diana: “She was pretty and she was sweet, but she was stupid.”
The late Princess of Wales had once been a fan Lagerfeld's designs, but later refused to wear Chanel because its iconic double-C emblem reportedly “reminded her of Charles and Camilla”.
He also insulted Kate Middleton’s sister Pippa, telling a German magazine “I don't like the sister's face. She should only show her back.”
His comments are rumoured to be the reason behind the royals’ apparent snub of Chanel, while often using other luxury labels such as Prada and Dolce & Gabbana
And he once took another dig at Angela Merkel, commenting on her outbursts during a meeting with US president Barack Obama: “Too long pants, too tight jackets, awful colours. Everything is wrong!
His comments weren’t just limited to women either. He shocked many when in 2009 he mocked singer Seal’s face scarring - due to lupus - to German media.
“I am no dermatologist but I wouldn’t want his skin. Mine looks better than his. He is covered in craters,” he said.
While indefensible, his lack of compassion towards others could perhaps be explained by Lagerfeld’s response when, before a fashion show, Vogue magazine asked how he was feeling.
“I have no human feelings,” he said.
Lagerfeld was born on September 10, 1933, in Hamburg, Germany, but he spent his life lying about his age, once claiming he was born in 1938, and in 2013 declaring it was actually 1935.
Records later confirmed his real birth date, but in 2008 still celebrated his 70th birthday, despite actually turning 75.
Although his family name was spelt Lagerfeldt, her used the spelling without the ’t’, considering it to “sound more commercial”.
In 1955, after living in Paris for two years, he entered a coat design competition and won, later befriending Yves Saint Laurent who would be a lifetime friend and rival in both work and love.
The recognition landed Lagerfeld a job with the couturier Pierre Balmain, where he designed for films and dressed stars including Sophia Loren, after which he became head designer at Jean Patou.
He later took up a job at Italian house Fendi, spending a world-record-breaking 54 years there during which he produced more than 100 collections.
In the process he became enemy No 1 of animal rights groups after making fur coats his speciality. Peta’s UK director Mimi Bekhechi called him “an undertaker”.
Lagerfeld joined Chanel on a part-time basis in 1983, continuing to design for Chloe, Fendi and others, and took up a full-time spot there in 1974.
In 1983, Alain Wertheimer, the co-owner of Chanel, asked Lagerfeld to breathe new life into the iconic French house, which had been in sleepy decline since Coco Chanel’s death at the age of 87 in 1971.
As he increased in statute in the fashion world with daring collections which referenced everything from climate change to Amy Winehouse, he started to develop his own imitable look too and quickly became one of the most recognisable fashion designers in the world.
To fit into his black suits, which he would with fingerless glovers, pompadour and sunglasses, he stuck to a diet of no sugar, cheese or bread, and around 10 can of Diet Coke a day. “I’m like the animals in the forest,” he said. “They don’t touch what they cannot eat.”
And it wasn’t long before the world got to know the designer’s eccentric side too..
The most important person in his life was his cat Choupette, given to him by the model Baptiste Giabiconi. The feline had a personal maid, travelled by private jet, had her own book, Instagram account and Wikipedia page, and even a product line in her likeness.
After growing a goatee he declared that “with all these whiskers I look a lot like Choupette… we’re really like an old couple. In fact, she maintains it for me, we sleep on the same pillow and she spends her life licking it."
In 2013, he proclaimed he would marry the cat if it was legal, and last year said he wanted his ashes to be scattered along with his mother’s and those of the cat, if she died first.
As it happens, Lagerfeld’s last bizarre act could be to make his beloved cat the heir to his entire £150million fortune, something that under German law could be possible.
The designer told an interviewer that ‘among others’ - which could include his young godson, Hudson Kroenig - he would be giving his riches to Choupette.
He he told Numero magazine he doesn’t want a funeral, saying: “I’ve asked to be cremated and want my ashes to be scattered with my mother’s… And Choupette’s if she dies before I do. There will be no funeral. I’d rather die!"