--- title: Remembering the Originality of Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld description: Karl Lagerfeld, most known for his fashion design work for the house of Chanel, Fendi and his own eponymous label, died at age 85. canonical: https://time.com/5534381/karl-lagerfeld-obituary/ author: Stephanie Zacharek article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-21T10:44:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:49:27.695Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Remembering the Originality of Karl Lagerfeld og:description: Karl Lagerfeld died at the age of 85 on Feb. 19, 2019 in Paris, France og:url: https://time.com/5534381/karl-lagerfeld-obituary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70255ea5b95be4dc/69894577ab6d7754056b4d87/karl-lagerfeld-obituary-milestone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: Karl Lagerfeld Obituary Milestone og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Remembering the Originality of Karl Lagerfeld twitter:description: Karl Lagerfeld died at the age of 85 on Feb. 19, 2019 in Paris, France twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70255ea5b95be4dc/69894577ab6d7754056b4d87/karl-lagerfeld-obituary-milestone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Remembering the Originality of Karl Lagerfeld > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent.  by [Stephanie Zacharek](https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Film Critic Feb 21, 2019 10:44 AM UTC  Lagerfeld in Paris in 2009 with models wearing his work for Chanel Lagerfeld in Paris in 2009 with models wearing his work for Chanel Sebastien Micke—Paris Match/Contour by Getty Images  by [Stephanie Zacharek](https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Film Critic Feb 21, 2019 10:44 AM UTC Humans who make beautiful things are not always beautiful people, at least not in the way we’d like them to be. But if Karl Lagerfeld, who died on Feb. 19 at 85, wasn’t always kind–he was well known for his wicked, sometimes cruel quips–he was so exquisitely distinctive, as a personality and as a designer, that ignoring him was impossible. Born to an affluent German family, Lagerfeld grew up on a lavish estate near the Danish border, though his childhood wasn’t necessarily easy: he spoke often, with a kind of tempered affection, of his tyrannical mother. The young Lagerfeld began his career as an assistant to couturier Pierre Balmain, in 1955, eventually moving on to design for Jean Patou, Chloé and Fendi, where he served as creative director until his death. But the designer’s longest and most famous association is with the house of Chanel, which he joined in 1983\. Coco Chanel had revolutionized fashion by introducing easy-fitting but impeccably constructed garments that freed women from constriction, but by the 1970s, even her tastefully classic shapes had become stale. Lagerfeld swooped in like wind through an open window. His clothes were fresh and invigorating, season after season, even as they maintained proper respect for his forebear: he’d pair her trademark supple tweeds with biker jackets, or fashion her staid bouclé into swingy ponchos, fusing tradition with glamorous modernity. Lagerfeld’s signature look–stiff Victorian shirt collar, dark glasses, steel silver ponytail–was itself an extreme, dazzling work of invention. But where’s the line between self-caricature and irreproducible originality? Lagerfeld walked it like a dancer. 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