MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. Renowned German designer Karl Lagerfeld left a ‘huge imprint’ on the ‘encyclopedia of fashion,’ and he was a formidable person, Russian designer Valentin Yudashkin said in an interview with TASS on Tuesday.
France’s Le Figaro reports that Lagerfeld died Tuesday morning at the age of 85.
"This is a person who created sporty elements in the luxury industry. His clothes were in vogue, even up until the latest collections which were touched by French chic," said Yudashkin. "He had a precise vision of the street, he knew for whom he was creating clothes. A formidable person, he left a huge imprint on the encyclopedia of fashion.
Lagerfeld was born in Hamburg, his mother was German and his father was of Swedish decent. In 1952, he moved to France and successfully graduated from a design school in Paris. Later, he became an assistant to a famous fashion designer, Pierre Balmain, with whom he worked up until 1958. Then, he started working for the Jean Patou brand.
Thereafter, Lagerfeld worked as an independent designer and worked for four fashion companies at the same time. In 1983, he was offered the position of the creative director in Chanel. At that time, Chanel clothes were not enjoying popularity. Lagerfeld managed to swiftly create a couple of new collections which turned out to be an instant success, leading to the practical resurrection of the Chanel brand.
In the last decade, Lagerfeld delved into photography, and organized a few successful exhibitions of his photos and released albums. Karl Lagerfeld alongside Yves Saint Laurent were considered the "last two great designers of France".