The classic fake chanel bag represents much more than an object of desire, it is an icon of contemporary fashion and culture and its history will make you fall in love with it.
Chanel bags have been the object of desire with a capital “o” since long before Instagram showed them worn by influencers and fashion bloggers. Icons, on the other hand, are like that. Their shape conquers at first glance and never ceases to please, to fascinate, to be desirable. The classic Chanel bag which today continues to represent one of the symbols of the Maison and, more generally, of contemporary luxury, is iconic for this very reason: no matter how much fashion and trends change, it remains timeless and highly coveted. But there is more, something that goes beyond pure aesthetics, something that makes a beautiful object a symbol: its history. And that of the Chanel bag has to do with the genius of its creator, Mademoiselle Coco Chanel.
The story of fake Chanel’s 2.55 bag, as brilliant as its creator
Who knows if Coco Chanel, in creating the 2.55, imagined the impact of her bag not only in the field of fashion, but also in contemporary pop and social culture. Today, a scroll of your Instagram feed is all it takes to see fashionistas, supermodels and actresses sporting one on their shoulder, but the appeal of the classic Chanel bag goes far beyond just a picture of her in a post. It has to do with her story and, above all, with the ingenious and modern mentality of her creator.
Let’s start from the beginning, from the 20’s to be exact, and imagine a world where women didn’t carry shoulder replica bags (yes, exactly can you imagine that?!), those were “men’s things”, from the military. And Mademoiselle Chanel was certainly not a woman who accepted the rules imposed by the fashion of the time, but she was inspired by herself and her needs. She was “tired of having to hold the bag and losing it, I strapped it through and carried it over my shoulder.” No sooner said than done.
In 1929 Coco Chanel created her own version of the shoulder bag inspired by the military saddlebag, but redesigned to enhance its femininity. The modernity of the Chanel bag that combined practicality and beauty was an immediate success, it met a real and daily need of women without sacrificing the aesthetic standards worthy of a luxury item. Unlike the classic Chanel bags as we know them today, the shoulder bag designed by Coco Chanel in 1929 was not made of leather, but of black or navy jersey and grosgrain linings.
However, it already had a functional element destined to become a legend: the two flaps. The largest to close the bag and cover a hidden pocket designed to contain love notes or some banknotes to leave tips (or, as Mademoiselle called them, “the change to be spent on small comforts”). The smaller flap, on the other hand, was used to hold three compartments and the central one was created specifically for lipstick. In short, already in 1929, Coco Chanel had imagined her bag for a free and modern woman, just like she was, who always had a lipstick and a few gallant notes from an admirer with her.
But it was in 1955 that the first shoulder bag imagined by Coco Chanel was transformed into the 2.55 bag as we know it today. In February of that year, two holes were added to the bag for passing the chain of the shoulder strap and the leather model for the day also appeared alongside the evening versions in jersey and silk. However, the latter material needed structure, volume and consistency and also in this case Mademoiselle Chanel is inspired by the world around her and she discovers that the jackets of the stable boys she met on the racing fields have what she was looking for. Thus was born the matelasseé leather bag, with the typical diamond stitching that helped make the charm of the Chanel 2.55 bag so irresistible, which has never changed since then.
The ABC of the Chanel bag
“C” for Chain
In Claude Delay’s 1983 book, Chanel Solitaire, there is a quote as provocative as it is emblematic by Gabrielle Chanel: “Believe me, I know women, give them chains, women love chains”. Mademoiselle Chanel was convinced of this truth to the point of making chains the distinctive feature of her shoulder bag. The chains, instead of imprisoning, served to free the hands of women. It goes without saying that she was right.
“H” for Hip Pack
The Chanel pouch, or hip pack, has been part of the Karl Lagerfeld collections since the 90s and is the result of the impact of the street counter culture of those years on the very concept of the bag.
“A” for Aterliers
Ateliers in Verneuil-en-Halatte, to be precise. Because it is in this small village in the Oise, north of Paris, that the Chanel bags are born. Here the expert craftsmen take 15 hours and 180 very precise operations to create a bag.
“N” for novelty
Chanel’s 2.55 bag has remained practically unchanged since 1955, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been transformed by playing with novelties. Alongside the “classic” version, in the six annual collections it appears from time to time in unconventional fabrics, from plexiglass to jeans, and in ever new colours.
“E” for Emotion
Yes, we are talking about that emotion that accompanies an iconic object, the emotion of having it in your hands, of receiving it as a gift, of knowing that it is forever. And the Chanel bag is no exception.
“L” for luxury
The luxury that surrounds Chanel bags is not linked to ostentation, but rather, as her creator imagined, to an attention to detail and materials. A hidden luxury handed down from generation to generation that combines aesthetic beauty with a practical need. Because just as the history of the 2.55 bag teaches, for Coco Chanel the bag had to be a woman’s best friend, the keeper of her secrets.
