Tributes paid to designer Karl Lagerfeld by Chinese fans
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The death of Karl Lagerfeld on Tuesday in Paris has sparked a wave of nostalgia across China, with netizens paying tribute to one of fashion's all-time most influential designers.
German-born Lagerfeld helped redefine the directions of Chanel and Fendi as creative director of both brands – the former since 1983, the latter since 1965 – and also founded his own eponymous line.
Lagerfeld is known in China as Lao Fo Ye, the nickname of Empress Dowager Cixi, who effectively controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) for 47 years from 1861 until her death in 1908. That Lagerfeld was given this soubriquet in China goes some way to showing the esteem in which he is held in the country.