"Jacques was an image fanatic," she continued. "He collected photographs and was a good painter. He was very sophisticated and elegant and it came from the heart. Jacques had a total reverence, respect and love for Chanel."

She added that, at the same time, he was irreverent, always saying things on the edge.

"Jacques Helleu was a great personality, a great talent," said photographer Patrick Demarchelier, who worked on Chanel campaigns, including Allure's. "He was very kind and had humor."

Ines de la Fressange — who was photographed for Chanel ads, including for Coco — lauded Helleu for his ease, critical sense ("often with a lot of humor") and exigency "to never do things in a mediocre fashion."

Goude, who was behind such campaigns as the one for Coco starring Vanessa Paradis in a birdcage, said Helleu approached fragrance advertising "in a flamboyant way, not the meek way in which it had been done and is still sometimes done."

Goude recalled working on the Egoiste fragrance campaign, in which dozens of models shout "egoist" from as many of a building's windows.

"It was really groundbreaking, a really fresh way of doing advertising," he said. "Jacques really believed in the projects we did together. They were artistic.

"I owe Jacques a big, big hunk of my career. He took lots of chances with me. We did really good work together," said Goude. "I'll miss him; the whole industry will — and more."

Helleu was born in Boulogne-sur-Seine, France, on June 30, 1938. He is survived by his wife, five children, a sister and four grandchildren.

A private funeral will be held in Paris on Tuesday afternoon.