Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld has died at the age of 85. Regarded as one of the most important fashion visionaries of the 20th and 21st centuries, he was known for regularly wearing sunglasses and a black suit with a white shirt, and with his grey hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Lagerfeld, who was the creative director of the giant French fashion brand, missed his label's spring/summer couture show during the Paris Haute Couture fashion week in January because he was unable to attend.

It is understood he was admitted to the American Hospital in Paris on Monday and died there on Tuesday after a period of ill-health, according to local reports.

Lagerfeld's date of birth has long been unclear, as it was previously widely believed to be 1933, although it is listed as 1938 on his official website. In 2013 he told Paris Match magazine that he was born in 1935.

Tributes from across the globe have come pouring in for the iconic figure, with many in the industry - including Victoria Beckham and Donatella Versace - expressing their sadness at the passing of "genius" Lagerfeld.