Inside the VERY privileged life of Karl Lagerfeld’s cat Choupette who is beloved by celebrities: The 11-year-old Birman feline feasts on croquettes and pâte – and lives with the designer’s ex-housekeeper in a Paris apartment
Forget Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and Blake Lively.
As celebrities prepare to roll up to Monday’s red carpet at the highly anticipated Met Gala in New York, there is one guest many are hoping will grace them with their presence: Karl Lagerfeld’s beloved cat Choupette.
While Choupette, an 11-year-old white-haired Birman with blue eyes, has scored an invite to one of the most coveted fashion events of the year, her attendance to the fundraiser, which is set to honor her late owner’s legacy, is still up in the air.
But what has the fashion designer’s adored cat been up to since Lagerfeld’s death in 2019?
Forget Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and Blake Lively! One of the most highly anticipated guests on the list is Choupette, the late Karl Lagerfeld’s cat
But Choupette hasn’t been confirmed to be in attendance. The Met Gala is just hours away. She’s pictured here with Lagerfeld
Choupette’s owner may have been one of the most influential figures in fashion history, but his feline companion has become famous in her own right, garnering more than 160,000 followers on her Instagram account and she has her own agent.
She lives the good life in a Paris apartment with her caretaker – and Lagerfeld’s former housekeeper – Françoise Caçote, 50, who told The Wall Street Journal recently that Choupette is an early riser and is treated to her fur being brushed a number of times a day.
The cat enjoys strolling on the balcony and loves to nibble on catnip.
When she’s not doing that, Choupette is amusing herself with Chanel paper bags and ribbons for toys.
Previously Lagerfeld said Choupette’s presence in his life made him ‘less selfish,’ telling The Cut: ‘Maybe I became a better person perhaps, I don’t know.’
‘She is the center of the world. If you saw her, you would understand. She is kind of Greta Garbo,’ he added elsewhere during the interview.
‘There is something unforgettable about her, the way she moves, the way she plays. She’s an inspiration for elegance. For attitude.’
Ahead of the Met Gala, which is this year themed Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, FEMAIL details the lavish life of Choupette with the former creative director of Chanel and Fendi, and how her days are now spent following his death aged 85 from pancreatic cancer.
Lagerfeld said Choupette’s presence in his life made him ‘less selfish,’ saying: ‘Maybe I became a better person perhaps, I don’t know’
When Lagerfeld was alive, Choupette had two maids and a driver to see to her every need
Choupette had two maids, used to dine opposite Lagerfeld and ate only ‘very fresh’ food
If you think the feline is spoiled now, Lagerfeld revealed in a 2012 Harper’s Bazaar that Choupette had two maids and a driver to see to her every need.
As for meal times, Lagerfeld said he served her food at the table as she didn’t ‘like to eat on the floor.’
They would be plated up on high-end Goyard dishes for Choupette, and would include delicacies such as a croquette and pâté.
After adopting her from a friend, the cat would dine with Lagerfeld, sitting across from him at the table when she reached adulthood.
As for meal times, Lagerfeld said he served her food at the table as she didn’t ‘like to eat on the floor’
After adopting her from a friend, the cat would dine with Lagerfeld, sitting across from him at the table
Her meals still consist of croquettes and pâte as well as filtered water served at the table
The fashion designer had been looking after the cat for a friend for over two weeks, but he became so enamored with Choupette – which in French means ‘cutie’ – that he decided to keep her.
He later told French magazine Numero in 2016: ‘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.
‘Everything must be very fresh, otherwise Mademoiselle sits in front of her biscuits for three quarters of an hour giving me filthy looks, without eating a thing.’
Describing her as ‘very body conscious,’ Choupette’s owner told the publication that she would be ‘brushed four times a day’ and had monthly visits to the doctor.
When she wasn’t traveling with Lagerfeld, Choupette’s maids would take notes ‘in little books,’ describing her activities, what she consumed and her sleep patterns when she stayed at home.
In just nine months, they had filled ‘almost 600 pages,’ Lagerfeld told Women’s Wear Daily in 2012, as per The New York Times.
She lives the good life in a Paris apartment with her caretaker – and Lagerfeld’s former housekeeper – Françoise Caçote (pictured center carrying Choupette in a carrier with Sebastien Frank and Dr Mathias Wahrenberger)
Choupette is an early riser and is treated to her fur being brushed a number of times a day, Caçote said. Again she’s pictured with Choupette
Social media star and celebrity in her own right, scoring brand deals and collaborations
Lagerfeld revealed in a 2015 interview with The Cut that Choupette earned more than $3 million (€3 million) for two jobs – ‘one for cars in Germany and the other was for a Japanese beauty product’ – after beginning her modelling career in August 2012.
And she was reportedly meant to inherit about $1.6 million (£1.3 million) from the fashion designer, but she has yet to see any of the money four years after his death.
With hundreds of thousands of fans on Instagram, Choupette also has an agent, Lucas Berullier, who has so far kept mom on his client’s attendance to the Met Gala, telling The Wall Street Journal only that ‘a lot of people want her there.’
The agent and her caretaker said they were starting up a charity that would be in Choupette’s name, according to the publication.
Lagerfeld revealed in 2015 interview that Choupette earned more than $3 million for two jobs
She’s also made some celebrity friends, including Kim Kardashian, who recently shared some photos with Choupette in Paris
While the cat’s lifestyle is a bit more parred back to when she lived with Lagerfeld, with Caçote footing the bill for Choupette’s expenses herself, the feline continues to eat pretty well despite not having access to fresh meat from the butcher.
Her meals still consist of croquettes and pâte as well as filtered water served at the table.
‘She is a princess,’ Caçote added.
As for her personality, Berullier claims it echoes that of her late owner.
‘She’s very sophisticated and elegant,’ he told WSJ.
‘She has a strong character and does not like to be disturbed, or be forced to do anything. But when she walks into a room, everyone turns their heads to see her. She stops time.’
Lagerfeld also revealed previously that Choupette was ‘very clean’ and spent ‘her life washing herself.’
‘She smells very good… She has a nice natural odor. Which isn’t the case with everyone,’ he added to Numero.
And Choupette continues to model, recently appearing in the arms of Naomi Campbell in Vogue’s May edition ahead of the Met Gala.
She’s also made some celebrity friends, including Kim Kardashian, who recently shared some photos with Choupette in Paris before the reality TV star ‘spent some time at Karl Lagerfeld’s office to get a little inspiration for the Met.’
