Karl Lagerfeld, whom The New York Times describes as "the most prolific designer of the 20th and 21st centuries and a man whose career formed the prototype of the modern luxury fashion industry," died on Tuesday in Paris. He was 85.

In 2013, Lagerfeld descended on Fair Park in Dallas, where the often-outrageous, outspoken designer presided over a runway show hosted by Chanel, which he had served for decades as its flamboyant artistic director.

At the time, he proclaimed: "I love Dallas. I love Texans. They are the nicest people." Speaking about his Western-themed show, he said: "Texas is wild, but I made it more romantic."

Irving-born supermodel Erin Wasson knew Lagerfeld and described him this way on Tuesday for The Dallas Morning News: "The man was pure class. An enigma of warmth and thoughtfulness. His humor was something that many didn't know of him. His ability to laugh at himself."

Wasson, who says she was "lucky enough to call him Uncle Karl," also marveled at being able "to travel to amazing places with him, to be a part of his intimate world. He was a constant in my life when fashion was just this crazy landscape.

"He could tell you in eight different languages about anything you could ever want to know. My heart is deeply sad but my memories deeply profound," she said.

The 2013 Chanel event in Dallas summoned to Fair Park on a chilly night such luminaries as actress Geraldine Chaplin, who played Coco Chanel in a movie. There were rows of American convertibles, parked for a Chanel drive-in movie. Ice cream and popcorn stands were among the accoutrements, as were spiked cherry limeade cocktails.

Actresses Lauren Hutton, Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart mingled among the nearly 1,000 celebrities lured to the event. Lagerfeld arrived in a convertible. Those in the crowd included Gene Jones, the wife of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones; art collectors Cindy and Howard Rachofsky; and philanthropists Jennifer and John Eagle.

The crowd came to Fair Park to see a "drive-in" screening of the short film about Chanel titled The Return, written and directed by Lagerfeld. The crowd then changed locations for a runway show filled with Western-inspired fashions that The News described as "dripping with denim, pearls and fringe." Wasson was among those who walked the runway.

Karl Lagerfeld is interviewed after the Chanel "Metiers d'Art" Show at Fair Park on Dec. 10, 2013 in Dallas. (Cooper Neill / Getty Images for Chanel)

"More than anyone I know, he represents the soul of fashion: restless, forward-looking and voraciously attentive to our changing culture," Anna Wintour, the editor of American Vogue, said of Lagerfeld when presenting him with the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Fashion Awards in 2015.

Lagerfeld had served as creative director of Chanel since 1983 and Fendi since 1965. He also founded his own fashion line.

The Times called him "a fashion polyglot, able to speak the language of many different brands at the same time ... In his 80s, when most of his peers were retiring to their yachts or country estates, he was designing an average of 14 new collections a year, ranging from couture to the high street — and not counting collaborations and special projects."

As he said backstage before a Fendi show at age 83: "Ideas come to you when you work."

The Times further described him as "a self-identified 'caricature,' with his dark glasses, powdered ponytail, black jeans, fingerless gloves, starched collars, Chrome Hearts jewelry and obsessive Diet Coke consumption, he achieved such a level of global fame — and controversy — that a $200 Karl Barbie doll, created in collaboration with the toy maker Mattel, sold out in less than an hour in 2014."