Choupette

Originally belonging to the French model Baptiste Giabiconi, Choupette was given to Lagerfeld as a gift around Christmas 2011, following a stay with the designer while Giabiconi was abroad.[4] "When he came back I thought I'm sorry Choupette is mine," said Lagerfeld.[5]

Following Lagerfeld's death, there has been resulting confusion over which is the "real" Choupette page. Choupette's personal account, @ChoupetteOfficiel, was only created after Lagerfeld's death. Whereas, her first media appearance was made via the social networking service Twitter on 16 January 2012, on @ChoupettesDiary, a fan page by Ashley Schudin.[6]

In an interview with Making It In Manhattan, Schudin explains, "The Twitter account was originally created as a joke and playful satire for what the people believe the fashion industry is really like."[6] Schudin explains, "In the past 2 years, it has increasingly become more challenging since Karl Lagerfeld’s team is not directly involved in my brand and therefore, I am not provided assets regularly. It is often a struggle to get original content when I don’t have direct access to Choupette."[6]

With Choupette's social media presence and multiple 'interviews' in high-end fashion magazines, her celebrity has grown, having prompted Lagerfeld to have remarked "People are stunned by her ... Soon people will talk more about Choupette than about me!"[7] As of March 2015, she has more than 46,000 fans on the Twitter account invented in her honor.[8]

In June 2013, Lagerfeld announced that he wished to marry Choupette. He said in an interview with CNN, "There is no marriage, yet, for human beings and animals… I never thought that I would fall in love like this with a cat."[9]

Following Lagerfeld's death in February 2019, speculation ran rampant that the feline would inherit part of the late designer's fortune, as Lagerfeld once told Le Figaro that (Choupette) "has her own little fortune. She is an heiress”.[10][11]

There was much speculation as to whether the cat would attend the 2023 Met Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1 in New York City being held in celebration of Lagerfeld however in the end she stayed home.[12] Meanwhile as the celebrities ascended the steps to enter the fete to the shower of white light which are the flashes of the paparazzi, Jared Leto arrived in a full body sports team mascot like suit dressed as Choupette,[13] while Doja Cat and Lil Nas X also came respectively clad in getups inspired by the feline.[14][15] Prior to the gala the American entrepreneur and media personality Kim Kardashian visited Choupette at the cat's residence in Paris as part of what she said was her research for the upcoming Lagerfeld themed Met Gala and exhibition. There was as mentioned before much speculation that the pussycat would attend in this case with Kardashian as an escort, but in the end the feline stayed home.[16][17]

Choupette's personal page, @ChoupetteOfficiel, created after Lagerfeld's death, shows the cat in her home, playing, and living a happy cat life.[18]

Choupette's fan page personality, @ChoupettesDiary, "was created originally as a joke and playful satire for what people believe the fashion industry is really like."[6] As such, it is one of a fierce, high-maintenance, spoiled madam, presumably an amalgamation of the various stereotypical character traits and eccentricities surrounding individuals in the fashion industry, not least of Lagerfeld himself.[19] Among her particularities is her use of the Apple iPad, her quoted 'choice' to eat at table next to Lagerfeld, and her love of antique lace, Colette shopping bags and Goyard.

She has two "beloved" maids, Françoise and Marjorie,[20] who tend to Choupette, a task that includes taking care of her hair and other beauty jobs, and keeping a diary of her activities and moods at one time for the reference of Lagerfeld but still for an on-call veterinarian. Of the two maids, Choupette is said to prefer Françoise.[21]

Karl Lagerfeld store window on Regent Street, London.

Internet rumours of a Choupette-inspired Chanel handbag first appeared in early July 2012 following a tweet by the New York Times' Cathy Horyn.[22] It was speculated that the Choupette was the bag carried by models in Lagerfeld's Fall 2012 Couture show,[23] though this was never confirmed.

Choupette has been credited as the inspiration behind Lagerfeld's cornflower blue Spring 2012 Couture collection,[24] he described her eyes as "blue, blue, blue, blue, blue",[21] but given the timing of Choupette's adoption by Lagerfeld and the timescale of the design process, this claim is unlikely to be true.

Choupette has appeared in photoshoots (most famously with Laetitia Casta in a 10-page editorial in V magazine in September 2012[25]). Lagerfeld was early to dismiss the possibility of her modelling work extending beyond his own projects, stating simply "I'm commercial; she's not".[26]

As of July 2014, a book, Choupette, was slated for release, as was a capsule makeup collection by Shu Uemura.[27]

In March 2015, Lagerfeld said in an interview with The Cut, that Choupette had earned €3 million ($3.18 million USD) during 2014 from participating in two projects: one for cars in Germany, and the other for a Shu Uemura's Shupette beauty product in Japan.[5][28]

In 2020:it was that Choupette would work in cooperation with LucyBalu, a German cat furniture and cat supplies company.[29]

• Human–animal marriage
• List of individual cats
• List of wealthiest animals