After all, he was one of the world's most iconic fashion designers, at the heart of not one, not two, but three fashion houses.
The man who steered Chanel for more than 30 years combined artistic flair with business acumen which would see the Parisian label's sales reach $10bn (£7.7bn) in 2017.
But Lagerfeld's brand reached beyond his business ventures and into every aspect of his life.
He was instantly recognisable, thanks to his powdered white ponytail, dark glasses and high-collared white shirts. But then, what else would you expect of a man who once noted "anyone who wears jogging pants has lost control of their life".
"I'm a walking label," he told CNN in 2011. "My name is Labelfeld not Lagerfeld."
Karl Lagerfeld's exact date of birth has been a contentious issue for some time. According to his eponymous website, he was born in 1938. However, others have settled on September 1933 as a more likely date of birth
Either way, he was born in Hamburg to a German mother and Swedish father, Otto, who imported condensed milk. Within a few years, they had moved to the town of Bad Bremstedt, where he would spend the war years.
However, it seems a young Lagerfeld had no intention of staying in the country of his birth, having already got a taste for fashion - and a sense he might be destined for big things.
"As a child, a very young person, I had the feeling: 'It doesn't matter what you do - you're compelling!' I thought I was sacrosanct - wasted on dismal post-war Germany," Lagerfeld told German media.
In 1952 - having seen a Dior fashion show in Hamburg - the teenage Lagerfeld moved to Paris.
His big break came in 1954, when he won first prize for a sketch of a coat which was then made by Pierre Balmain. The designer, impressed, offered him a job as his assistant.
Just three years later, he was named Jean Patou's art director.
Then, in 1965, after a short stint with Chloe, he would begin a collaboration that was to last to the end of his life, with Italian fashion house Fendi.
His pace of work did not slow up either, so when he missed a Chanel show in January - the first time he had ever done so - speculation began to mount over his health.
Lagerfeld's death was met with an outpouring of grief from the fashion world he had presided over for so many years. Many paid tribute to his genius and the legacy he was leaving behind.
But, it seems, Lagerfeld was less impressed with his legacy than those paying tribute. Two months before his death, the octogenarian dismissed rumours he was writing his memoirs.
"I have nothing to say," he said. "I'm actually trying to make sure that I won't be remembered."
