They called him the "Kaiser", and for decades Karl Lagerfeld, who has died aged 85, reigned imperially over the fashion world. His streetwise smarts sent Chanel sales surging to $10 billion in 2017 even as Lagerfeld entered the second half of his eighties. Like his age, from which he shaved up to five years at times, much about the Lagerfeld legend is hazy. Despite being at the centre of fashion's social whirl, Lagerfeld was always a solitary figure. Despite the company of his fashion family and the small coterie of male models known as "Karl's Boys" who often accompanied him, Drake argued Lagerfeld "is alone in a crowd.

Source: The Local February 19, 2019 12:18 UTC