8 memorable Karl Lagerfeld quotes: ‘I like Kate Middleton’s looks, but her sister ...’

Couturier Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of French fashion house Chanel since 1983, who died aged 85 on Tuesday, was almost as famous for his biting and often controversial quips as he was for his fashion designs.

Here are a few of his memorable quotes:

On style: “If you come and ask me, ‘I want to be chic’, there is little hope to become chic. Because there are peasants in the country who are beyond chic in their poor rags, and very rich women who are not chic in the most expensive dress.” (to Net-a-Porter, 2012)

On tattoos: “I think tattoos are horrible. It’s like living in a Pucci dress full-time.” (to M Magazine, 2012)

On eating meat: “I only eat what doesn’t look any more like what it was when it was alive. I can only eat hamburgers. I am not inclined to steakhouses.” (to New York Magazine, 2018)

On the Middleton sisters: “Kate Middleton has a nice silhouette and she is the right girl for that boy [Prince William]. I like that kind of woman, I like romantic beauties. On the other hand, her sister [Pippa] struggles. I don’t like the sister’s face. She should only show her back.” (reported in The Sun newspaper, 2012)

On cultivating his image: “I want to have a superficial image – I don’t want to look serious. You can be serious, but you mustn’t show it.” (to Vogue, 2018)