The fashion world still mourns Karl Lagerfeld - who died in 2019 at the age of 85. The German designer's white hair, sunglasses and acid tongue made him an icon amongst many but a controversial figure for others. In light of the recent BBC documentary 'The Mysterious Mr Lagerfeld' these are the biggest revelations about the life of the fashion god.

The fashion icon famously once said: “I am like a caricature of myself, and I like that. It is like a mask. And for me the Carnival of Venice lasts all year long.” He was known for being blunt, unapologetic, outrageous and enigmatic and has been described as a "marionette" by his friends thanks to his cleverly crafted persona. The German designer was rarely seen without his trademark silver ponytail, dark sunglasses, and starched collars.

Karl’s real love affair was with his cream tortie Birman cat Choupette. Ever since his muse Baptiste Giabiconi asked Karl to cat-sit the pet he became obsessed with the feline and took her for himself. Karl bequeathed a sizeable chunk of his $200 million fortune to Choupette, which is handled by her agent and full-time carer Francoise Cacote.

Karl’s beloved cat Choupette was a star in her own right with an estimated fortune of €‎3 million from her modelling and even has over 149,000 followers on Instagram. According to ex-Vogue Paris editor Carine Roitfeld, Choupette is a total diva. She recalled: “Very jealous girl, Choupette, she’s a mean cat [...] she can bite, she can scratch, she’s not a nice girl."

According to Karl’s old friend Patrick Hourcade, Lagerfeld's relationships with younger companions Brad Kroenig and Baptiste Giabiconi were sexless. Baptiste – who is over 40 years his junior – explained it was more of a “father-son” relationship instead and had actually spoken about adoption. Even Karl's great love affair with the seductive Jacques de Bascher was an abstinent one as Lagerfeld "had a problem" with making love - leading to Jacques seeing the designer's nemesis Yves Saint Laurent.

Despite being attracted to flamboyant personalities, Karl himself was well-behaved in school and a total introvert. He neglected the hedonistic trappings of the fashion world as he did not use substances nor drink much alcohol.

The white starch collars made up Karl's iconic look and he would even wear them on sunny holidays in St Tropez as he believed that they were good for his posture. Brad Kroenig said that he never saw Lagerfeld wearing anything else.

Lagerfeld was synonymous with the world of fashion but was a massive bookworm away from the catwalk. He frequently visited his favourite bookshop in Paris and would spend an eye-watering $30,000 per trip. Store manager Danielle Cillien-Sabatier recalled: "Karl told me once that he had 300,000 books."

According to a friend, Karl was "crazy for currywurst" and turned to food as a way to cope following the deaths of his mother Elisabeth Bahlmann and lover Jacques de Bascher. It led to his weight ballooning in the early 1990s.

Karl was mocked for his weight gain in the press and was labelled as a "grandad" in one newspaper. A furious Lagerfeld shed four stone in the space of eight months in 2001 and the story gained such traction that he wrote a book on The Karl Lagerfeld Diet, which he described as a "sort of punishment".

Lagerfeld's long-time accountant Lucien Frydlender 'disappeared' when the designer passed away. Karl's inheritance situation is complicated due to his tax affairs were split across France and Monaco and the beneficiaries of his will are still waiting to receive their payouts.