Claws out over Karl Lagerfeld’s €200m fortune left to members of his entourage and beloved cat Choupette

Fur could fly as an unknown plaintiff is reportedly contesting the will of late designer Karl Lagerfeld, who left most of his €200m fortune (£173m) to his long-time assistant, his godson, two models, and his beloved cat, Choupette.

The German designer, perhaps best known for shaping the Chanel legacy after joining the French fashion house in 1983, died aged 85, on 19 February 2019.

Seven years later, a legal dispute has emerged that could see some of his estate go to his nieces and nephews, who are his only living relatives.

The Times cites German media as reporting that Lagerfeld’s will, which was finalised in April 2016, bequeathed most of his estate to his long-time assistant, Sébastien Jondeau, his godson Hudson Kroenig, and models Brad Kroenig and Baptiste Giabiconi.

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Lagerfeld told The New York Times Magazine in 2015 that he had “no family at all”, stating that he hadn’t seen his sister Christiane, who lived in the US, in 40 years, while her children “never even send me a Christmas card”.

Then there was the matter of Lagerfeld’s notoriously pampered Birman cat, Choupette, who was placed under the care of his former housekeeper Françoise Caçote, along with a house with a garden, and a reported sum of $1.5m (£1.1m).

Choupette travelled the world by private jet in a Louis Vuitton carry case, had a bodyguard, a personal chef and two maids, and would eat her meals with Lagerfeld – four different dishes prepared for her that day – “served in lovely bowls”. An Instagram dedicated to his daily life has over 270,000 followers.

“Everything is controlled by her,” Lagerfeld told The Guardian in 2014. “She wakes me up at 7am because she wants me to bring her fresh croquettes, she won't touch food from the night before, she gets offers for food commercials but it is out of the question. She is a kept woman.”

In an interview with Hello! last year, Caçote said that she and Choupette, now 14, were “very selective” about the campaign shoots they did: “Choupette has always had the character of a princess. And unfortunately, as she gets older, it doesn’t get any better!”

While Choupette’s extravagant lifestyle is unlikely to be interrupted, German media reported this week that Christian Boisson, the executor of Lagerfeld’s will, has written to his surviving relatives informing him of the legal contestation.

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If the will was annulled under French inheritance law (Lagerfeld lived and died in Paris), his wealth would be re-distributed among his next of kin.

Lagerfeld had no children, and both of his sisters, Christiane and Thea, died before him, meaning any ruling in favour of blood relatives would mean his surviving nieces and nephews could stand to inherit.

The famously difficult, often fearsome designer was not close to his family. He reportedly last saw Christiane in 1974; at the request of his sister, he designed his niece Caroline Wilcox’s wedding dress in 1992 and had it flown to Connecticut on Concorde.

However, his US-based relatives were typically left out of the glittering fashion world he inhabited – none were invited to the Met Gala in 2023, when his legacy was honoured as that year’s theme.

Nephew Roger Johnson, a long-haul truck driver based in Portland, Connecticut, previously told the New York Post that he only met Lagerfeld on a handful of occasions when he was a child, and did not believe he would inherit any of his uncle’s estate.

“And I probably would deny it,” he said. “Money doesn’t mean anything to me. I’m just a regular guy, dude.”