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Fashion icon and Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld dies aged 85 https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/trending/chanel-designer-karl-lagerfeld-dies-aged-85-reports-11259042 Legendary fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has died at the age of 85, his fashion label Chanel confirmed on Tuesday (Feb 19). The announcement came just weeks after the icon of the global fashion industry failed to turn up at shows during Paris Haute Couture week for Chanel, which he has led since 1983. He had reportedly been in ill health. "An extraordinary creative individual, Karl Lagerfeld reinvented the brand’s codes created by Gabrielle Chanel: The Chanel jacket and suit, the little black dress, the precious tweeds, the two-tone shoes, the quilted handbags, the pearls and costume jewellery," said Chanel in a statement after the announcement of his death. The CEO of Chanel, Alain Wertheimer, added that Lagerfeld was "ahead of his time". “Thanks to his creative genius, generosity and exceptional intuition, Karl Lagerfeld was ahead of his time, which widely contributed to the House Of Chanel’s success throughout the world," he said. "Today, not only have I lost a friend, but we have all lost an extraordinary creative mind to whom I gave carte blanche in the early 1980s to reinvent the brand.” The House Of Chanel offered his family, relatives and friends its deepest condolences. Friends have always said that the prolific creator would die with a pencil in his hand, and just last week his own fashion line Karl Lagerfeld was still announcing new design collaborations. The veteran German designer died on Tuesday morning after being rushed to a hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine just outside Paris the night before, reported French celebrity online magazine Purepeople. Lagerfeld, who simultaneously churned out collections for Fendi and his eponymous label – an unheard of feat in fashion – was almost a brand in his own right. Sporting dark suits, white, pony-tailed hair and tinted sunglasses in his later years that made him instantly recognisable, an irreverent wit was also part of a carefully crafted persona. "I am like a caricature of myself, and I like that," runs one legendary quote attributed to him, and often recycled to convey the person he liked to play. "It is like a mask. And for me the Carnival of Venice lasts all year long." 'KAISER KARL' Dubbed "Kaiser Karl" and "Fashion Meister" among a whole host of media monikers – Lagerfeld was born in 1933 in Hamburg to a German mother and a Swedish father who imported condensed milk. He spent early childhood tucked away from war in the 1,200-acre family estate in Bavaria and had a French tutor. The big breakthrough came shortly after a move to Paris when, in 1954, he drew a wool coat that won a prize and landed him an apprenticeship with designer Pierre Balmain. Lagerfeld first found real success in the mid-1960s with Chloe, the fashion label now owned by Switzerland's Richemont. But it was Chanel that propelled him to rock-star status, as he sexed up the brand and lifted its profile with grandiose runway shows. In the past year these have featured a full-scale beach and an enormous replica ship. LAGERFELD WAS A 'CREATIVE GENIUS': BERNARD ARNAULT Bernard Arnault, owner of the luxury giant LVMH - the most powerful man in fashion - said he was "infinitely saddened" by the loss of a "very dear friend" and a "creative genius". "Fashion and culture have lost a major inspiration. He contributed to making Paris the fashion capital of the world and Fendi one of the most innovative of Italian brands," the billionaire said. News of his death led to an outpouring of emotion in the industry, and tributes began flowing in from politicians and fans. "It's a privilege to be able to say that you've worked with him, that you've listened to him speak, that you've talked with him, that you've been dressed by him," said the French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis on Instagram. "Karl Lagerfeld is an immense personality, someone out of the ordinary," French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told RTL radio. Virginie Viard, deputy artistic director of Chanel, will become chief designer of the fashion house following the death of haute couture icon Karl Lagerfeld, a source at Chanel said on Tuesday.

Watched the first 30 mins... The guy holding m16 can be taken down even before entering mall but they let him in. With 4 bullets left, he can kill 7 hostage? What a joke... Last they need like 50 police to handle someone with 4 bullets in a shop... Not that I dun support local but the script n the flow really cannot make it Mediacorp really better at making those neighbour drama

Did a double take when I make a cursory glance of the headline "What the ....?" Then I realise there is no way our local ang mo channel is able to pay & lure this hunk... From CNA: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/bea...1200501/1/.html Brad Pitt to be new face of Chanel No.5 Posted: 10 May 2012 2114 hrs PARIS: Brad Pitt has been tapped as the new face of Chanel No.5, the iconic perfume from the French fashion house whose most famous ambassador was the late Marilyn Monroe. Chanel announced the launch of a new ad campaign featuring the Hollywood heartthrob for its No.5, one of the world's best-known woman's fragrances, in a statement on Wednesday. Contacted by AFP, the house would not say why it chose a man for the first time as the face of No.5, which has been represented over the years by the likes of Catherine Deneuve, Nicole Kidman and Vanessa Paradis. The most famous of all, Monroe once said in a 1953 interview that she slept wearing nothing but a splash of the perfume. Pitt's involvement fuelled speculation that a man's version of the fragrance could be in the works, with the French website Daily ELLE reporting that it was set for launch within months. Chanel would neither confirm nor deny the report. No.5 was created in 1921 by the nose Ernest Beaux, as a special order from Coco Chanel herself, who wanted a unique scent to pair with her fashion designs. - AFP/ck

used 2 mths only....need advice