10 Facts About Karl Lagerfeld:

1. Karl Otto Lagerfeldt was born on September 10th, 1933 in Hamburg, Germany. There have been suspicions about the truth behind his birth year and the controversy goes on, as Karl denies that he was born in 1933, a rumor he claims was started by his cousin. In his book “The Karl Lagerfeld Diet”, Karl shares that he changed his last name to Lagerfeld because it sounded “more commercial”.

2. Lagerfeld was hired as Pierre Balmain’s assistant at age 17 and worked with him for three years. After working as Balmain’s assistant, Lagerfeld became Jean Patou’s art director for five years.

3. The ’80s were a busy time for Lagerfeld: In 1983, he was named the Art Director of Chanel and in 1984, he created his own line, Karl Lagerfeld, all while still working with the house of Fendi (he had first signed on with them in the ’60s). In 1987, Lagerfeld started creating his own advertising campaigns, which have since been featured in many books. (See below for more!)

4. In 1993, Lagerfeld hired strippers and adult film stars to model his black-and-white collection for Fendi. Anna Wintor reportedly walked out of the runway show because of Lagerfeld’s scandalous choice of models.

5. Lagerfeld lost a dramatic amount of weight in 2001. He says it took his thirteen months to lose a little over 90 lbs, and later published a book called The Karl Lagerfeld Diet.

6. Because of his use of fur in his winter collections, Lagerfeld has been repeatedly attacked by PETA and was even “pied” by the group in 2001 at New York City’s Lincoln Center. Since then, Lagerfeld has used faux fur in his winter pieces.

7. In 2004, H&M shoppers rejoiced when Lagerfeld designed 30 looks for the company, under the “Karl Lagerfeld for H&M” label.

8. In 2010, Lagerfeld designed limited-edition Coca-Cola Light bottles, featuring his silhouette and signature on aluminum bottles. Coming this June 2011, Lagerfeld’s second round of bottle designs for Coca-Cola Light will be released, revealing three new bottle designs.

9. Earlier this year, Lagerfeld chose Blake Lively to be Chanel’s ambassador for the Mademoiselle handbag collection, calling her an “American dream girl”.

10. According to UK’s Vogue (updated May 18th, 2011), Lagerfeld isn’t big on technology:

“I don’t use cell phones. I read, I write, I love faxes, I like to take notes. I hate to be on the phone, I think it’s an intrusion. I’m reading, I’m sketching, I don’t want to be interrupted.”