Karl Lagerfeld Dead At 85, Here's The Short List Of His Rudest Quotes

Karl Lagerfeld died this week at age 85 as a master of fashion, creative director, and most importantly artist (and human work of art). Before we go too far into this article, I need to make clear the word "rude" here isn't meant as a negative. It's meant in the sense that Lagerfeld had a way with words, one that was at once startling, sharp, and smart. And it all comes down to sweatpants.

The quote you'll most likely see tossed around the most for Lagerfeld is one on sweatpants. For some reason it seems most appropriate – or most inappropriate – to celebrate Lagerfeld with a quote on the opposite of his life's ambitions. "Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants."

On being his own work of art, living a lifestyle that is in itself a mask, he said the following. "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." Lagerfeld, if you weren't aware, had a very well-defined look in the last large portion of his public life. He wore black sunglasses, pulled his silver hair back in a pony tail, and wore a perfectly fitted suit. He wore gloves and a tight, German expression upon his face. He was the lifestyle he defined.

Lagerfeld did not like animals. He was not thrilled to be living in the same world as swans, in particular. "Swans, they are the meanest animals in the world, you know," said Lagerfeld. "I had problems with them as a child. They hate children. I was caught by one, so I know." If it weren't clear by now, Lagerfeld was not a friend to nature – not directly, anyway. He did enjoy the way animals looked, but not how they lived.

"The idea of swans is lovely," said Lagerfeld, "and they have a beautiful shape, but they seem more romantic than they in fact are. I don't think really they die like this. They just drop dead, hmm? But who wants to see that?" What a strange man he was.

Many times when Lagerfeld spoke about fashion, he could just as easily have been speaking about the tech industry we report on every day. "We created a product nobody needs, but people want," said Lagerfeld. "If you need an ugly old car, it can wait, but if you want a new fashion item, it cannot wait."

Lagerfeld could just as easily have been speaking about the current state of the mobile industry in China. New fashions are popping off quicker than people can purchase. New color combinations go in and out of fashion in China before brands here in the states can release a single phone.

There's no action more definitively modern than the selfie. Lagerfeld did not like the selfie. He did not like the selfie at all, whatsoever. He did not do them, and he did not like to be a part of them.

If we're looking at that quote alone, yes, Lagerfeld is a bit of a hypocrite, too. He took his fair share of selfies in his later years – selfies with stars aplenty.

Lagerfeld did not want to stop working – at least not until the last few weeks of his life. When asked about retirement, he suggested it'd never happen. He lived up to the hype. "Why should I stop working? If I do, I'll die and it'll be all finished." Lagerfeld died in Paris at age 85.