Coco Chanel Handbag

The launch of the first Coco Chanel handbag in 1955 marked the beginning of a fashion revolution. Coco had retired in 1939, and had been written off by most in the industry. Her perfumes could still be bought at Chanel outlets, but she had stopped making any new designs, and had effectively retired from the fashion business. When she made her comeback at the age of 71, and introduced the innovative and hugely popular Coco Chanel handbag, her success was thus all the more remarkable.

The purse that would turn the fashion world on its head was a quilted one, but it was not the material that made it such a unique phenomenon. For the first time in fashion history, a woman’s handbag now had a chain shoulder strap on it. No longer did a woman have to hold her purse in her hands. Instead, she was free to sling it over her shoulders and use her hands however she pleased. This purse was thus, in a sense, empowering.

Coco Chanel’s designs were all about simplicity and functionality, but with a classic sense of style. This ourse was meant to reflect this philosophy. The designer herself never left her house without her own over her shoulder. And, it seemed that soon the rest of the world would agree with her idea. In its first year, this purse became so popular that the designer had to refuse many of the requests for orders that hade been made to her. She simply didn’t have the time or the staff to make them all. After all, the high quality and fine craftsmanship that she insisted upon for all of her products meant that it was a painstaking process to manufacture each individual one.

In little time, her signature Coco Chanel handbag was being copied all around the world. It became known throughout the industry as the Chanel 2.55 after the month and the year it was introduced. Today, variations of the Coco Chanel handbag remain as sought after as they were fifty years ago. The 2006 Luxury Line, with its metal chain embedded in leather, was one of the most anticipated Coco Chanel handbags of the year.

The enormous brand power of Chanel is such that it has inspired entire lines of fake – and much cheaper – purses, complete with the now famous double-C logo, in countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and China. Whereas an authentic one costs an average of $1,500, a fake one usually costs just $60. And, with little noticeable difference to the untrained eye, demand for the cheaper purse has been growing.

It is a problem that the House of Chanel is committed to dealing with. In the meantime, however, the fashion powerhouse remains at the top of its game. Whether it is a Coco Chanel handbag or a watch or its ‘little black dress’, the company continues to be a leader and an innovator in the industry.



Coco Chanel Handbag

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