Karl Lagerfeld famously had a soft spot for just one member of his inner circle - his pampered Birman cat Choupette, who was earmarked to enjoy a fortune of around $1.5million after the fashion icon's death.
The late designer, who died from cancer in 2019 aged 85, made detailed plans during his lifetime to ensure his feline companion would continue living in luxury, including setting aside a substantial sum of money and a house with a garden under the care of his former housekeeper Françoise Caçote.
While Choupette's extravagant lifestyle is unlikely to be disrupted, the rest of Lagerfeld's €200million estate has now become the focus of a fresh legal battle - seven years after his death.
It has emerged that his will, finalised in April 2016, is being challenged by an unknown claimant, opening the door for the designer's nieces and nephews to potentially inherit a share of his vast fortune after initially being cut out entirely.
Under the terms of the will, Lagerfeld left the bulk of his wealth to what he once described as his 'real family': his long-time assistant Sébastien Jondeau, his godson Hudson Kroenig - who was just 11 when the designer died - and male models Brad Kroenig and Baptiste Giabiconi.
German media reported this week that Christian Boisson, the executor of the will, has written to Lagerfeld's surviving relatives to inform them of the legal contestation.
If the will were to be annulled under French inheritance law, the estate would instead be divided among his next of kin.
Lagerfeld had no children, and both of his sisters, Christiane and Thea, died before him. Any ruling in favour of blood relatives would therefore benefit their children.
Christiane Lagerfeld emigrated to the United States in the 1950s, later settling in Connecticut, where she raised four children.
One son, Karl, died aged 18 in a motorbike crash, while her surviving children - Paul and Roger Johnson and Caroline Wilcox - could now stand to inherit.
Despite the distance between them, Lagerfeld once designed Wilcox's wedding dress and had it flown to the US on Concorde in 1992.
However, family ties were strained. Lagerfeld had not seen Christiane since 1974, and none of his American relatives were invited when his legacy was celebrated as the theme of the 2023 Met Gala in New York. Roger Johnson, now a long-haul truck driver, has previously suggested he would be unlikely to accept any inheritance, saying they had no meaningful relationship.
His half-sister Thea's daughter, Thoma Gräfin von der Schulenburg, aged 82, is also among the potential beneficiaries should the will be overturned.
His devotion to Choupette was well known. Lagerfeld once described the cat as living like a 'kept woman', dining with him at the table, sleeping under pillows and even using an iPad.
As her Instagram already shows, she travels in style a $2,000 Louis Vuitton carrier - a far cry from the $20 standard mesh carrier from Amazon - and flies on marvelous private jets, which her haters could only dream of
The will challenge is not the only cloud hanging over Lagerfeld's estate - tax authorities are also pursuing an investigation amid claims that his main residence was Paris rather than Monaco, potentially leaving an unpaid bill of between €20million and €40million.