She had two maids, regular manicures and appeared on the front cover of Vogue — but where is the famously pampered pet now? As an auction of the late designer's estate takes place, we track down the world's most fashionable feline.
Surely you remember Choupette, the caviar-eating, private-jet-setting, sapphire-eyed cat who stole Karl Lagerfeld's heart, became his muse and inherited some of his millions. Oh, how we lapped up the details of her luxurious life — the maids, fashion shoots and hotel suites — but, like all true stars, Choupette knows the value of mystique and has kept a relatively low profile since Lagerfeld died almost three years ago. This month, however, Sotheby's is selling more than 1,000 items from Lagerfeld's estate, everything from his collection of fineart to items belonging to Choupette, including her cardboard scratching pad, bowls and cups and embroidered cushions. But where is Mademoiselle Choupette now and what's the back-alley gossip?
In a fickle human world of Insta-likes and overexposure, the blue-cream Birman picks projects carefully — yes to limited-edition cat hammock collaborations, no to cheap pet food promos — and her team handles the deluge of requests. "We get contacted almost every day for a shoot, a brand, an interview. She's very demanded," says Lucas Bérullier, Choupette's agent. Still part of the Karl Lagerfeld family, she regularly pops into the Paris office to boost morale, pose for photographs and, we like to imagine, fire any drably dressed interns. Having celebrated her 10th birthday in August at the five-star Hôtel de Crillon (with a fish and prawn cake and piles of designer presents), Choupette is older, wiser and at an interesting midlife juncture. "She was one of the first [pets] to be globally famous but was always under the control of her dad," says Bérullier, speaking over Zoom from Paris, where he runs My Pet Agency. "Today she's taking her own path. She needs to find her own way through this world."
That means channelling Brigitte Bardot rather than Marie Antoinette. "The projects that make more sense for her are charity projects. She's still doing a lot of secret donations, without expecting anything in return for the good cause," Bérullier says, adding that a potential "Choupette Foundation" would be inspired by Bardot's animal foundation. Choupette wants to focus on cats less fortunate than herself, naturellement.
