Timeless Elegance. The Chanel Icon

The CHANEL 11.12 bag testifies to the spirit and fantasy of its creator - CAROLE BOUQUET

At 18 Coco Chanel started her career as a sales assistant at the Maison Grampayre store in Moulins. Chanel also worked as a cabaret singer. Rumour has it that one of Chanel's signature performance songs was Qui qu'a vu Coco?, which inspired her legendary nickname Coco. In Moulins cafes Coco Chanel first met fashion managers, especially Etienne de Balsan, son of a textile entrepreneur. Chanel and Balsan started a six-year relationship, and he served as her first financier as well as romantic partner.

In February 1955 Coco Chanel first designed the 2.55 flap bag. A symbol of fashion liberation, 2.55 was the first bag made for women with a shoulder strap. This Chanel bag emphasised practicality, comfort and elevated taste. From that moment Mademoiselle Chanel tirelessly pursued her life's work.

During his first year as creative director at Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld refreshed one of Coco Chanel's most iconic designs: the 2.55 flap bag. So Lagerfeld's decision to reinterpret such a timeless work was extremely bold. His inspired vision was conveyed through the Classic Double Flap bag, a breakthrough success. Lagerfeld's redesign brought two new features – a woven leather chain and Double C closure. As universal and easy to wear as the 2.55, Classic Double Flap quickly became a wardrobe staple. The metal chain interwoven with leather ribbon is one of the identifying elements of the iconic CHANEL bag, along with the metal clasp of double C and sensual quilting.

Following Coco Chanel, who dressed the most fashionable women of her generation, Karl Lagerfeld's muses helped cement his designs as timeless classics. From German supermodel Claudia Schiffer, who declared Lagerfeld's Classic Flap her most precious Chanel bag, to French singer Vanessa Paradis, who has publicly loved the Coco Cocoon bag for decades, celebrity icons remain integral to the Chanel brand. Noteworthy is Princess Diana of Wales, the biggest style icon of the 80s and 90s. Designed by Lagerfeld and produced from 1989 to around 1995, the "Chanel Diana" bag is a coveted find among vintage hunters and Diana admirers alike. This classic design closely resembles the single-flap Chanel and was so often worn by Princess Diana that Karl Lagerfeld decided to honour her by name. Despite reviving this bag style in the Spring 2015 collection, vintage Chanel Diana remains the most elusive, sought-after variation ever made.