Four years after his death, Karl Lagerfeld’s will is still one of the most contested of the fashion world.
After Karl’s death in 2019, tensions arose over who was to inherit his £178 million fortune – with some of his collaborators fighting it out to determine who had been his favourite and would take home the biggest slice of the pie.
The issue of Lagerfeld’s inheritance has remained up in the air since the designer’s death from pancreatic cancer in Paris in 2019, and has now hit a legal standstill.
Meanwhile seven names of beneficiaries emerged in French magazine Le Point earlier this month, including Lagerfeld’s muse and friend Baptiste Giabiconi, 33, his right hand man and chauffeur Sebastien Jondeau, several of his Chanel collaborators, and his former governess, Françoise Caçote, who has been looking after his cat Choupette since his death.
Here FEMAIL takes a look at the seven beneficiaries – and the one cat – who are included in the list, and how their lives have gone on after the death of their friend.
KARL’S MAIN HEIRS
1. His muse: Baptiste Giabiconi
Set to inherit: 30 per cent of the fortune
The muse and protégé of the late Karl Lagerfeld, Baptiste Giabiconi, is set to inherit the biggest share of his estate, 30 per cent of Lagerfeld’s estimated £178m fortune
The muse and protégé of Lagerfeld, Baptiste Giabiconi, is set to inherit the biggest share of the estate, 30 per cent of Lagerfeld’s estimated £178m fortune, thought to be around £53million.
As tensions around the will emerged, Giabiconi allegedly angered the other potential beneficiaries of the will by saying he was the designer’s ‘favourite heir’, but according to the Le Point article, he was right.
The 33-year-old model, from Marignane, France, was discovered by the former Chanel and Fendi creative director in 2008 when he was just 18, and the two struck a firm friendship.
The two men were so close that they even sparked dating rumours, but Giabiconi has denied that they were ever lovers, calling their bond a ‘filial relationship.’
With the fashion world preparing to celebrate the late Karl Lagerfeld at the Met Gala in May, his former muse Baptiste Giabiconi will surely be following the event with great interest (pictured)
The model, who owes his international career to the designer, said he was stricken by the will.
‘This will shook me. I wasn’t expecting it, What an incredible man,’ he told Le Point.
Giabiconi, who is set to become a father for the first time later this year, also gave more details into his privileged bond with the designer.
‘I reminded him of who he had been in his youth. I wasn’t from the industry, I was natural with him and wasn’t a pushover, which he appreciated. We talked night and day,’ he said.
Giabiconi has focused on his business ventures since the death of his long-time collaborator.
At 33, he still models, and is multiplying campaigns for YSL, Mugler and Jean-Paul Gauthier.
Baptiste Giabiconi, 33, from Marignane, southern France, was discovered by the former Chanel creative director when he was 18 in 2008 and the two of them struck a friendship spanning more than a decade. Pictured in 2009
He was spotted putting on a stylish display at the Dior Paris Fashion Week show last February when he showed up in a woollen grey ensemble.
Back in October, he donned a black cape shirtless as he walked the runway during the ‘Le Defile Walk Your Worth’ By L’Oréal Womenswear Spring/Summer 2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week.
Giabiconi is a brand ambassador for L’Oréal, as well as for the jewellery brand APM Monaco, Techno Gym and Viktor&Rolf Fragrances.
As well as working with a number of big brands, he has also funded his own entrepreneurial projects with his earnings.
He released an album in 2021, titled Oxygen, which was a commercial success in France, topping the SNEP album charts.
The model also launched his own marketing agency, Wonderwall agency, which he advertises on Instagram.
He also founded his own holiday business, Casa Giabiconi, where he rents four-stars villas to holiday-makers in the South of France.
2. His ‘spiritual heir’: Sebastien Jondeau
Set to inherit: Unknown amount as his ‘second favourite beneficiary’
Sebastien Jondeau and Karl Lagerfeld, pictured at the wedding of Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene in 2011
Jondeau was one of Lagerfeld’s closest collaborators and he is still a familiar face on the Paris scene (pictured at the Fendi Couture fashion show on January 2022)
According to Le Point, Sebastien Jondeau is the second biggest beneficiary from Lagerfeld’s will, however, his share of the Kaiser’s fortune was not revealed.
Jondeau, 47, worked as a bodyguard and chauffeur for the designer for two decades, and has been hailed by French media as Lagerfeld’s ‘spirit heir.’
He cared for the designer in his later years, where he battled pancreatic cancer, and is said to have ‘held his hand’ at the time of his death.
Mr Jondeau released a book in 2021 to celebrate his mentor’s life in which he revealed the close friendship the pair shared.
He also told of Lagerfeld’s health problems, which began in 2015, and were known to very few.
Speaking to WWD ahead of the publication of his memoir- titled Ça va, cher Karl?, meaning ‘How are you, dear Karl?’ – Mr Jondeau insisted: ‘[Lagerfeld] was the Muhammad Ali of fashion.
‘[He was] knocked out standing, until the last moment on the phone with Fendi in Milan.’
The designer’s right-hand man also revealed that Lagerfeld was like a father to him.
Jondeau has been keeping a low profile since the death of his long-time collaborator, but has remained a known figure in the fashion world.
In December, he was spotted all smiles at the Dior Fall 2023 Menswear show in Giza, Egypt.
He was also seen chatting with Hun Kim, who is current Design Director for Karl Lagerfeld, during a cocktail party in honour of the late designer last June.
In his personal life, Jondeau welcomed a daughter named Giulia in September 2022 with his partner Chloé Trombello, sharing snaps of the newborn on his social media.
He said her birth was ‘the beginning of the rest of his life.’
According to French Magazine Pure People, it is unknown for how long Chloe and Jondeau have been together, although it seems that the pair were in the early stages of their relationship when their daughter was born.
3. His friend and godson: Brad and Hudson Kroenig
Set to inherit: Undisclosed amount
Brad Kroenig, right, was believed to be one of Lagerfeld’s favourite models. Pictured on the Chanel catwalk in 2016 with his son Hudson
Hudson, right, was Lagerfeld’s godson and appeared on the catwalk with his dad. Pictured: Hudson with his brother Jameson and Brad at the Daily Front Row’s Fashion Media Awards in New York in 2018
The former model Brad Kroenig and his son Hudson, 12, were also named in the will and are expected to receive the same amount as Jondeau’s share of the estate.
Kroenig, an American model from New Jersey, was thought to be one of the late designer’s favourites, and was a staple of Chanel runway shows.
He would accompany the designer everywhere, from his shows to parties around the world and on vacations in St Tropez, flying onboard the designer’s private jet, as The New York Times recounted in 2015.
Much like with Baptiste Giabiconi, it was mistakenly thought that Brad was Lagerfeld’s boyfriend.
But the former model is in a straight relationship and has two sons with his wife.
His son Hudson was Lagerfeld’s godson, and appeared alongside Brad at Fashion Week and in advert campaigns.
But Brad and his family now enjoy a quiet life away from the spotlight in Florida, where the couple have launched a real estate business.
Brad, who went on a break from social media from 2021 to 2022 announced the new business venture, called The Kroenig Group, last year.
Meanwhile his son now enjoys a typical teenage life, going on bike rides and hikes and taking his friends on fishing trips.
4. His gatekeeper: Caroline Lebar
Set to inherit: Money and furniture
Dubbed the designer’s ‘gatekeeper,’ Caroline Lebar is the senior vice president of image and communication at the Karl Lagerfeld brand (pictured in Paris in 2022)
The communication specialist, right, pictured with Sebastien Jondeau and Lagerfeld in Paris in 2007
For over 35 years, Caroline Lebar remained such a faithful collaborator to Karl that French media dubbed her his ‘gatekeeper.’
She is among those listed on the will, and is among a foursome who were also offered their pick from the designer’s furniture.
Caroline began working with the Kaiser aged 19 in 1985 after taking on an internship at his company and bumping into him in a corridor.
She is currently the Senior Vice President of the Maison Karl Lagerfeld’s Image and Communication.
‘I observed him, I spent my life with him, and I always thought it was cool to see things from his perspective,’ she told the Karl Lagerfeld website.
‘What really impressed me was how strong he was; he made everything look easy,’ she added.
‘Karl made the most of every moment he shared with people. Maybe that meant he wouldn’t be on time for his next appointment, but he always gave 100 per cent concentration to the person he was with in that moment,’ she recalled.
Since Lagerfeld’s death, she has been remained at the helm of her friend’s fashion house’s communication.
5. His creative muse: Amanda Harlech
Set to inherit: Money and furnitureSet to inherit: Money and furniture
British fashion consultant Amanda Harlech became Lagerfeld’s creative muse in 1997 and was his collaborator from more nearly 30 years (pictured together in 2010)
Harlech and Lagerfeld began working together after she split from Francis Ormsby-Gore, 6th Baron Harlech (pictured in 1998)
Amanda Harlech, also known as Baroness Harlech, became one of Lagerfeld’s creative muses from 1997, after years of advising John Galliano.
She met the Kaiser at a party he was hosting for Fashion Week in the 1990s.
Her first impression of the designer was that he was ‘an emperor at the height of his powers, possessed of an electrifying force that could scan the potential in everyone he encountered,’ she told Vogue earlier this month.
She joined Chanel after her divorce from Francis Ormsby-Gore, 6th Baron Harlech and began to help Lagerfeld on his collection.
Speaking to The Guardian the year she made the switch from one designer to the other, Harlech described herself as a ‘sounding board’ for Lagerfeld, and said the designer would bounce ideas off her during her visit from the UK to Paris, where she had a permanent suite at the Ritz in Paris.
‘Karl is someone who believes you either swim or you sink. You do not expect him to protect you; you protect yourself,’ she said.
Reflecting on her long collaboration with the designer, she remembered his ‘turbocharged’ energy, and his capacity to bring his sketch to life in the most minute detail.
She also recounted how ‘critical’ the designer could be of people’s homes and how she would frantically clean her own house before he’d visit her in Shropshire.
6. His Chanel successor: Virginie Viard
Set to inherit: Money and furniture
When it comes to fashion, Virginie Viard, pictured in 2022, was Lagerfeld’s true Chanel heir, and is now the brand’s creative director
Viard started at Chanel as an intern and quickly climbed the ladder, becoming Lagerfeld’s trusted right-hand woman (pictured in 2012)
Baptiste Giabiconi and Sebastien may fancy themselves the ‘favourite’ and ‘spiritual son’ of Lagerfeld, but as far as fashion is concerned, Virginie Viard is his only one true heir.
Viard was his right-hand woman at Chanel when the designer was alive, and has been the fashion house’s creative director since his death.
As well as figuratively inheriting the brand from his mentor, the designer will also get a share of his estate, and will be allowed to choose some of her favourite picks from his furniture collection.
Chanel announced Viard’s appointment as their creative director shortly after Lagerfeld’s death.
At the time, she had been a collaborator of Lagerfeld for 30 years, and was already the director of Chanel’s Fashion Creation Studio.
The group revealed that her appointment was so that ‘the legacy of Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld can live on.’
Lagerfeld himself famously quipped that Viard was ‘my right arm… and my left arm.’
In 2019, Viard, who started at Chanel as an intern before climbing the ladder, told The Telegraph: ‘I try to please [Lagerfeld], but I like to surprise him too.’
The creative director has been keeping Chanel fresh and relevant in its post Lagerfeld era, and was credited with ‘pushing boundaries’ by the magazine Fashionista earlier this year for introduce shorts in Chanel’s fall fashion week runway.
7. His royal friend: Princess Caroline of Hanover
Set to inherit: Money and furniture
Caroline, 66, the sister of Prince Albert, 65, has enjoyed a life-long relationship with French design house Chanel and was a dear friend of its late creative director
Caroline of Hanover, 66, the sister of Prince Albert, 65, has enjoyed a life-long romance with Chanel and was a dear friend of its late creative director Karl Lagerfeld (pictured in 2013)
Caroline’s daughter Charlotte Casiraghi, left, has also grown to become a Chanel fan, and is a brand ambassador for the fashion house. Pictured with Karl and her mother in 2015
Princess Caroline of Hanover, 66, the sister of Prince Albert, 65, has enjoyed a life-long relationship with French design house Chanel and was a dear friend of its late creative director.
The royal and designer struck a friendship from their very first meeting in Paris in the 1970s.
Speaking to the French-speaking magazine Point de Vue after Lagerfeld’s death in 2019, the royal spoke of their 45 years of friendship.
She revealed how they met at a photoshoot for American Vogue which took place at Lagerfeld’s Saint-Sulpice apartment in Paris.
‘We ended up there with Chris von Wangenheim, wonderful fashion photographer. I wore Chloé clothes that Karl drew. It was a really happy atmosphere, I was very shy at that age,’ she recalled.
From then on, Lagerfeld dressed the royal beauty for several occasions, including both royal engagements and more casual outings, and she became a regular front row attendee at his shows throughout the years.
In the same interview, Caroline talked of how she became Lagerfeld’s number one fan, and how the designer became involved with the Rose Ball, an annual event which is held in Monaco by the princely family to mark the onset of Spring.
She described the designer’s death as a ‘family mourning’, which hit her children, Charlotte Casiraghi, Andrea Casiraghi, Pierre Casiraghi and Princess Alexandra of Hanover particularly hard, because they knew Lagerfeld ‘from birth.’
‘He was home the day before I gave birth to Andrea, he took a picture of me on the stairs. He was there when they were born,’ she said.
And according to a report by French magazine Le Point, Grace Kelly’s eldest daughter has been named as one of the people set to receive an inheritance from the designer, affectionately nicknamed the Kaiser.
The magazine reported Caroline is in line to inherit Lagerfeld’s furniture from his Parisian apartment, alongside three other friends of the designer.
The Kaiser’s will reportedly stipulates that Caroline can take her pick out of the designer’s impressive collection of furnishings.
Charlotte, 36, has followed in the footsteps of her fashionable mother, becoming an ambassador for Chanel in 2020, and she has worked with the fashion house on several projects over the years.
Like her mother, Charlotte is a regular attendee at Fashion Week, and she has also appeared in campaigns for the French fashion house.
Virginie described Casiraghi as someone who ’embodies the Chanel allure, all while remaining true to her own world.’
8. The cat: Choupette
Set to inherit: £1.3 million
Four years after the death of her owner, Choupette is still on high demand and has an agent ‘because she has a lot of requests’
As well as his seven main beneficiaries, Lagerfeld also left £1.3million to his former governess Francoise Françoise Caçote – who has been looking after his beloved cat Choupette.
Choupette, 11, was beloved by Lagerfeld and is said to be the most photographed cat in the world, having been snapped more than 200,000 times.
Upon his death she was left to Françoise Caçote, who stopped working to devote her time to caring for her.
And since Karl’s death, the feline has been enjoying a life of luxury with Francoise, jetting off to exotic locations on private planes.
The hefty inheritance was to go to Caçote to ensure neither her nor the pampered feline would ever want for anything.
But years later Lagerfeld’s complex web of assets, funds and debts mean his will has not yet been executed, leaving Choupette to continue her career with a possible appearance at the Met Gala later this year.
The cat is believed to have scored an invite to this year’s Met Gala, which is celebrating the designer’s legacy.
It is not known whether Choupette will indeed attend the glitzy event, and who her escort will be.
The dress code for the occasion, which will be overseen by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, is simply ‘in honour of Karl.’
As well as his seven main beneficiaries, Lagerfeld also left £1.3million to his former governess Francoise Françoise Caçote – who has been looking after his beloved cat Choupette (pictured)
Choupette’s agent, Lucas Berullier, confirmed to the New York Post that the feline had received a formal invite.
Berullier added: ‘It’s an event in honour of the legacy of Karl, and Choupette is obviously a central part of the legacy.’
Michelle Baron, who illustrated Where’s Karl?: A Fashion-Forward Parody, told the publication: ‘[I’d imagine] her entering with a big entourage — maybe Anna, or Grace Coddington.
‘I think the way to show stop would be [entering] by herself, or with the biggest celebrity, maybe Beyoncé.
‘Or maybe she’ll be escorted by Karl’s old bodyguard, Sébastien Jondeau.’
The theme of The Met Costume Institute’s spring exhibition is also in honor of the late designer and is titled Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.
The exhibition, which opens to the public on May 5, features more than 150 objects spanning Lagerfeld’s six-decade career at Chanel, Chloé, Fendi, and his own label.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk