Karl Lagerfeld once built a tennis court for Anna Wintour.

Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour

The 66-year-old editor-in-chief of American Vogue magazine, who is a tennis enthusiast, has revealed the fashion designer, 82, had the sporting ground dug out in his back garden as a way to persuade her to visit him in France.

Speaking at the British Fashion Awards earlier this week, according to the New York Post's Page Six Column, she said: "Karl built a tennis court on his property at Biarritz as an enticement for me to visit. Needless to say, this was the first and surely the last time anyone has constructed sporting turf in my honour, but Karl was trying to give me somewhere I could feel at home - where I could be myself."

And Anna has such a deep bond with the fashionista that she admitted she would love to be reincarnated as his cat.

She told the audience: "I have often thought that in my next life, I would like to come back as Choupette, his extremely beautiful and bourgeois cat, who has two maids, a chef, a personal hairdresser and many diamond necklaces."

Anna's revelations came as she presented Karl - the creative director of Chanel - with the Outstanding Achievement trophy at the British Fashion Awards at the London Coliseum on Monday night (23.11.15).