Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more
Karl Lagerfeld is to be cremated in line with his wishes, according to a spokesperson for his eponymous brand.
Lagerfeld, who passed away at the age of 85 on Tuesday 19 February, had been creative director for French fashion house Chanel since 1983 and had been with Italian luxury fashion label Fendi since 1965.
Following his death , a spokesperson from the Karl Lagerfeld fashion brand has confirmed the German fashion designer won't be buried.
In an April 2018 interview with fashion magazine Numéro , Lagerfeld said that he'd "rather die" than be buried.
"I've asked to be cremated and for my ashes to be dispersed with those of my mother," he said.
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in picturesShow all 30 1 /30Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures On 5 March 2019, Karl Lagerfeld's last Chanel show was presented on the last day of Paris Fashion Week. Lagerfeld curated a Winter Wonderland-inspired display for his final collection, which he co-designed with newly appointed Chanel creative director Virginie Viard.
EPA
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel's signature perfume No 5 was the main feature of the French fashion house's autumn/winter haute couture show on 7 July 2009, leaving a scent of the sublime in the impressive hall of the Grand Palais, Paris.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Paying tribute to where the luxury fashion label began, Chanel's autumn/winter 2017/2018 haute couture show featured a scale-model of the Eiffel Tower in the middle of the catwalk. The Parisian landmark inspired the designs that Lagerfeld presented on the catwalk, with a range of similarly shaped dresses and coats.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures In May 2018, Chanel set sail by presenting a 148-metre ship as part of a catwalk show at the Grand Palais. It took a month to install the ship inside the historic site.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel's SS18 in October 2017 show took a trip to the tropics. Models walked in the Grand Palais against a backdrop of waterfalls. 'Waterfalls are the healthiest thing in the world,' Lagerfeld said after the show.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures While snow was falling outside the Grand Palais, the setting of Chanel's spring/summer 2019 haute couture show transported its audience to sunny Italy. Models walked against a backdrop of an Italian villa, complete with a superbly primmed garden and luxurious pool.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures The Grand Palais was transformed into a beach for Chanel's spring/summer show in October 2018 during Paris Fashion Week. The set included a tidal machine, which made the water lap waves, and Chanel lifeguards sitting in a wooden beach hut.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel's autumn/winter 2018 forest-inspired show from March 2018 was definitely one of its eeriest, complete with towering trees and a floor strewn with fallen leaves.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures What better way to blast off a fashion show than placing a rocket at the centre of the catwalk? Some might say that Chanel's autumn/winter 2017 fashion show in Paris was out of this world...
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel's spring/summer 2016 environmentally conscious haute couture show was extremely serene, set in a wooden pavilion with a beautiful green lawn and water lily ponds. One of the dresses displayed at the show was made entirely from wild cotton, Lagerfeld said. 'This is high-fashion ecology,' he added. 'It must not look like some sloppy demonstration!'
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures In 2015 Chanel invited its audience to fly away, presenting a catwalk in the Grand Palais inspired by an airport terminal. In Lagerfeld's opinion, his vision was how an airport terminal 'should' look.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures In 2015, the French fashion label enlisted the help of stars including Kristen Stewart, Julianne Moore and Lara Stone to create an astounding casino-themed show in the Grand Palais. Card tables were placed in the centre of the room, while guests watched the show from the sides of the room.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures While some may opt to go to the supermarket in their comfiest clothes, in 2014 Lagerfeld showed that a trip to the vegetable aisle doesn't have to be an unfashionable affair. The juxtaposition between the luxurious clothing being worn by the models and the food produce on the shelves of the set made this catwalk one of Chanel's most memorable.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel's show on 10 March at Paris Fashion Week was a luxurious affair, involving models Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne walking around a French brasserie as part of the catwalk.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Taking inspiration from the art world, Lagerfeld had custom-made artworks placed around the Chanel catwalk in the Grand Palais as part of the brand's show at Paris Fashion Week in October 2013. These artworks included a robot made from bottles of Chanel No 5 and a quilted sumo wrestler.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures The world was seemingly Chanel's oyster in March 2013, as Lagerfeld had a 50ft globe at the centre of the catwalk during the French labels show at Paris Fashion Week. Every one of Chanel's 310 international stores were marked on the globe with a double CC-logo-ed flag.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel's haute couture spring/summer 2013 show at the Grand Palais in January 2013 bore strong elements of fantasy, having models dressed in angelic white and floral prints walking among a spectacular forest scene. Here, two models accompany Hudson Kroenig, Lagerfeld's godson, on the catwalk.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures The beneficial impact of renewable energy on the environment was highlighted by Chanel in 2012, when Lagerfeld had a series of wind turbines places on the runway of the spring/summer 2013 show at the Grand Palais.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures In March 2012 Lagerfeld transformed the set of his Chanel show at the Grand Palais into the 'Fortress of Solitude', having models walk amid magnificent crystalline sculptures.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Who doesn't wish they could walk down the airplane aisle like a catwalk model when jetting off on holiday? At the Chanel spring/summer 2012 haute couture show on 24 January 2012, guests at the Grand Palais were transfixed as the catwalk took place within the confines of a plane.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures In 2011, Chanel put on its extravagant 'Paris-Bombay' Métiers d'Art show. Lagerfeld took inspiration from India with his designs, decorating the tables that surrounded the catwalk with a grand feast.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures In 2011, Chanel's ready-to-wear spring/summer 2012 catwalk was made even more entrancing by the accompanying performance of singer Florence Welch. Welch sung while standing inside a seashell, with the rest of the set designed to look like the bottom of a sea bed.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel's haute couture show at the Grand Palais on 5 July had a very dark feel, set in what looked like a dystopian Metropolis.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel had a roaring presence at Paris Fashion Week in 2011, as models walked underneath the shadow of a gigantic gold lion. The set was designed by Stefan Lubrina, and the lion was reported to have weighed eight tonnes.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures The models walking the catwalk for Chanel on 9 March 2010 channelled their inner ice queens as they walked among replicas of icebergs in Paris. 'Nature has its surprises,' Lagerfeld said at the time.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel's spring/summer 2010 show at Paris Fashion Week in 2009 was fairly surreal, featuring a custom-made barn and a performance by Lily Allen on the catwalk.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures In 2008 Lagerfeld recreated Chanel's building at number 31 on Rue Cambon in Paris, presenting the facade at the end of the catwalk. The building was the apartment in which Coco Chanel once lived, before becoming a flagship for the brand.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel took a trip to the fairground in 2008, placing a high fashion carousel at the centre of the catwalk. Instead of horses on the merry-go-round, Lagerfeld featured signature quilted handbags, pearls and bows.
AFP/Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Sometimes a simple set design can be far more striking than an extravagant one, as displayed at the Chanel haute couture show in Paris on 6 July 2006.
Getty Images
Chanel's most memorable runway settings - in pictures Chanel's spring/summer 2007 show, presented on 6 October 2006, was an undoubtable feast for the eyes. Featuring a grand spiral staircase, the French fashion house definitely took its ambitious set designs to new heights.
AFP/Getty Images
Lagerfeld added that he also wished for his ashes to be scattered among those of his cat , should she die before him.
A spokesperson for the Karl Lagerfeld brand told French news agency AFP that "his wishes will be respected".
Lagerfeld had also previously said that he wants his ashes to be mixed with those of his late partner Jacques de Bascher, who passed away in 1989 due to complications from Aids .
"They are in a place kept secret with those of my mother," Lagerfeld told Bascher's biographer Marie Ottavi.
“One day, we will add mine. But I do not want a burial, nothing. I arrived one day, and one day I will leave. But let it be said, there is no urgency."
The fashion designer's cat, Choupette , is reportedly set to inherit some of his £150m fortune.
According to French newspaper Le Figaro , Lagerfeld's feline companion may be entitled to his fortune in accordance with German law, if she's been nominated as his "heir".
During a 2015 interview with the newspaper, Lagerfeld described Choupette as an "heiress". "She has her own little fortune," he said.
Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Following the Chanel boss's death, the French luxury fashion house confirmed that his "right hand woman", Virginie Viard , would be taking over as creative director of the brand.
Viard had worked with Lagerfeld for more than three decades, having first joined Chanel as an intern in 1987.
“Virginie Viard, Director of Chanel’s Fashion Creation Studio and Karl Lagerfeld’s closest collaborator for more than 30 years, has been entrusted by Alain Wertheimer with the creative work for the collections, so that the legacy of Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld can live on,” Chanel's statement read.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies