Karl Lagerfeld, designer who translated the mood of the moment and saved Chanel, dies

Karl Lagerfeld, who transformed Chanel from a faded fashion empire into a world power of style, has died. He was about 85.

Lagerfeld, who also designed the Chloe collection, Fendi furs and his own brand-name collection for many years, died Tuesday, according to Chanel.

While leading designers of his generation, notably his contemporary Yves Saint Laurent, created a fashion look that became identified with their name, Lagerfeld designed clothes as different as the companies he worked with - nowhere more successfully than at Chanel.

He was appointed chief designer of the house in 1982 and quickly worked out a blueprint for change. He kept the essential ingredients that Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel had put in place soon after she opened her Paris salon in the 1920s but rearranged them in startling new ways.

The modern dress style that Chanel created for woman had hardly changed when she died in 1971. Lagerfeld reshaped her ideas according to current fashion tastes and added details plucked from the constantly changing trends of the moment.

In Lagerfeld's hands a traditional Chanel suit with cardigan jacket and straight skirt suddenly had an untraditional miniskirt, or hot pants. The long strands of pearls mixed with gold chains that were a Chanel