Iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld dies aged 85 after weeks of ill health

Iconic Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld has died at the age of 85 in France.

Lagerfeld, who was the creative director of Chanel, is believed to have been unwell for two weeks before his death in a Paris hospital. 

He looked increasingly frail in recent times and missed two of Chanel’s haute couture Paris shows on January 22. His studio director Virginie Viard appeared in his place and the company attributed his absence to him feeling tired.

A statement read out after he missed the second show, said: “Mr Lagerfeld, artistic director of Chanel, who was feeling tired, asked Virginie Viard, director of the creative studio of the house, to represent him.”

It was the first time he had ever missed giving a catwalk bow at the end of a Chanel show.

As yet, no cause of death has been confirmed.