Choupette, the feline heiress of Karl Lagerfeld's fortune

Meet Choupette, the cat who inherited part of her 'father' Karl Lagerfeld's 270-million-dollar fortune. The fashion designer passed away in February 2019 and left much of his wealth to his beloved pet. While the exact division of Lagerfeld's estate is contested, it is certain that Choupette is, and will remain, a very rich cat.

Apart from her inheritance, the cat is also making a fortune with her image. Advertising campaigns, magazine covers, a wine brand, and a make-up line generate an emporium of several million euros for Choupette.

Choupette has visited the best hotels around the world, such as this residence in Berlin. She is also said to have a private cook and the care of an exclusive veterinarian in Paris.

Karl Lagerfeld was always determined to leave his wealth to his pet. "If I don't get her to inherit my fortune, I assure you that the person who takes care of her will not live in misery," said the designer before he died.

Choupette is a female of the Burmese breed. She has big blue eyes and white fur. But her most distinctive characteristic is that she is a millionaire cat.

Image: Mikhail Vasilyev / Unsplash

Choupette, which in French means little sweetie, was born on August 15, 2011.

Choupette was a Christmas gift to Lagerfeld from his lover, the 29-year-old model Baptiste Giambiconi. The cat was three months old when she came into the hands of her famous designer in 2011.

After Choupette came into his life, she was the enigmatic designer's inseparable companion. We rarely saw him without his characteristic sunglasses or his cat after 2011.

Choupette has two assistants who look after her 24 hours a day and whose duties include brushing her four times a day. They also feed her at her own table and with silverware.

The luxurious life that her 'dad' built for her, as well as her media appearances, has made Choupette a real influencer.

With a make-up line inspired by Choupette and launched in 2016, the fortune of this famous pet expanded.

In 2018, Lagerfeld launched a collection featuring him and his cat. Bags, passport holders and wallets were some of the articles with the image of Choupette and Karl Lagerfeld drawn on them.

The level of fame of Choupette is such that anything you can imagine is for sale with her and Karl's faces on it. For example, this phone and AirPods cases.

Image: Valery Fedotov / Unsplash

This is how Choupette posed with supermodel Gisele Bündchen for the cover of 'Vogue' Brazil.

Image: Vogue

In 2016 she also shared the cover with her 'father' in an edition of the French magazine 'Madame Figaro'.

Image: @choupetteofficiel / Instagram

Some of the top supermodels who were very near the fashion designer, like Kendall Jenner, were also photographed with Choupette.

Two covers of 'Vogue' and other magazines were not enough. Choupette also accompanied her human relative on the cover of his biography.

@Choupettesdiary was the first Instagram account for the Fashion Kaiser's pet. Digital marketing consultant Ashley Tschudin managed the account for the cat when Karl was still alive. That account currently has 223k followers.

Karl's passion for his cat was such that he wrote the book 'Choupette: the private life of a high-flying fashion cat' together with the cat's caregivers. It tells the day-to-day life story of this luxury pet.

The Kaiser of Fashion, as he was known, lived with his cat until the last moment. On February 19, 2019 at the age of 85, Lagerfeld passed away in the American Hospital of Neuilly-sur-Seine in Paris. He had suffered from pancreatic cancer and was admitted to the hospital for emergency treatment the day before his death.

When Karl Lagerfeld died, his cat's Instagram account suddenly stopped publishing images. After a while, the hashtag #WhereIsChoupette became trending. Marketers of the late designer arranged for a new Instagram account to appear, @choupetteofficiel, which was to be managed by whoever was taking care of the cat. It has 130k followers.

This is how Choupette sees herself reflected in one of the illustrations circulating on social media.

Image: @choupettesdiary / Instagram

Many wonder what happened to the cat after her human relative died. For a long time, that question was up in the air.

Image: @choupetteofficiel / Instagram

In an interview with The New York Times, the director of communication of the firm Karl Lagerfeld, Caroline Lebar, explained that the cat follows the routine that the Kaiser had laid out for her. She lives in Paris with Françoise Caçote, who was Lagerfeld's housekeeper and Choupette's caregiver. "She's in good shape, and is surrounded by love," Lebar said.

Image: @choupetteofficiel / Instagram

Choupette is sure to appear in more campaigns and will continue to make money from her image, even though her human is no longer there to supervise every move of his pet.