Chanel Bags
Few names in handbag fashion epitomize beauty, style and quality like Chanel bags. For more than fifty years, celebrities and fashion icons have chosen Chanel when they want to carry a classic handbag. Increasingly though, Chanel bags are finding their ways into the closets of women of all walks of life who recognize superior workmanship.
Born into poverty in 1883, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings were deserted by their father after the death of their mother some half dozen years later. Coco, as she came to be known, didn’t let being a poor orphan hold her back. By 1910 she had opened her own millinery store. The following decade Chanel moved into couture. In 1922 she introduced her trademark perfume Chanel No. 5 in its against-the-grain sleek bottle.
Chanel, however, didn’t design a purse until the launch of the legendary Chanel 2.55 in, of course, February of 1955. True to Coco’s fashion philosophy, the signature Chanel bag is a tribute to finely crafted simplicity. Fashioned from soft black quilted leather, the original 2.55 hung long from the shoulder on twin gold chains. The reverse intertwined Cs that would become the Chanel logo had yet to appear; their absence distinguishes a true classic Chanel bag. Another clue to the authenticity of an original 2.55 is the style of the chains; they had yet to incorporate leather into the links. Vintage 2.55 Chanel bags are highly sought after and sell for thousands of dollars.
