A year before his death, Karl Lagerfeld said his cat, Choupette, would be one of the heirs to his $200 million fortune.
The iconic fashion designer, who was creative director of Chanel, died on Tuesday morning at the age of 85, a statement from The House of Karl Lagerfeld confirmed.
He died in a Paris hospital after being urgently admitted on Monday night, according to French news site Pure People.
Cause of death is not yet known, though French newspaper Le Figaro reported that Lagerfeld had been "weak for many weeks."
Lagerfeld was juggling work as creative director on three brands — Chanel, Fendi, and Karl Lagerfeld — at the time of his death.
Last April, he said in a candid interview with Numéro that he'd had "every test under the sun and they can't find anything wrong," adding: "Call me back in ten years and we'll talk about it again."
However, despite sounding positive about his health, he went into detail about what he would want for his funeral — and who would inherit his fortune, which was reported to be around $200 million at the time of his death.
"There will be no burial. I'd rather die," Lagerfeld said of his funeral. "I've asked to be cremated and for my ashes to dispersed with those of my mother … and those of Choupette, if she dies before me."
When asked whether Choupette was the heir to his fortune, he replied: "Among others, yes. Don't worry, there is enough for everyone."
Choupette, a Birman breed white cat with 131,000 followers on Instagram, originally belonged to a friend of Lagerfeld's. However, he grew so attached to her while looking after her that he refused to give her back, according to CNN.
In 2013, he told CNN: "There is no marriage, yet, for human beings and animals ... I never thought I would fall in love like this with a cat."
Choupette had an entire fashion collection titled "Choupette in Love" created after her, and her eyes were even the inspiration for a Chanel haute couture collection.
A book titled "Choupette: The Private Life of a High-Flying Cat" was published in 2014, and the Mail Online reported that she made more than $3 million in one year after appearing in two ad campaigns for Japanese beauty brand Shu Uemura and German car company Vauxhall.
Lagerfeld once told Harper's Bazaar that Choupette had two maids, was taken care of by his driver, and ate and drank out of dishes by Goyard, a Parisian luxury goods maker best known for its handbags.
"She has one for water, one for her little croquette, and one for her pâté," he told the magazine in 2012, adding that two maids kept a precise diary of her day including "two daily brushings."
He also told Numéro that Choupette dined with him at the table.
"Now she’s an adult she dines with me. She sits opposite me and eats what she has to eat.
"Before she might have attacked any old prawn, but now she will only touch the four different dishes prepared for her on that day, served in fabulous bowls."
It is not yet clear who will look after Choupette following Lagerfeld's death.
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