2.55: This is the Coco Chanel Buddha-figure

Text/Little Red

The Chanel 2.55 classic model, born in 1955

Miss Coco Chanel, as people usually call her, not only because she has never been married, but also because people expect her youth forever. Chanel's brand image is almost that of Coco Chanel herself. The iconic figure, who has been invoked by feminism, was 72 years old when she designed Chanel 2.55.

Chanel 2.55 came out in February 1955, and its name is taken from the date of design. The year 1955 was a difficult transition for Coco Chanel herself, which was completely inconsistent with her prosperity. During World War II, she fell in love with a Nazi officer and was accused after the war. Although Coco Chanel was spared from court with the help of her friend British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the angry French decided to abandon her and had to temporarily exile in Switzerland.

In the 1940s, the fashion industry was popular with Dior. Chanel's reputation in Europe was already in jeopardy, and at the funeral of her best friend Misia, some people even publicly ridiculed her fashion taste, saying that "Chanel painted too much rouge on her friend to make her body look ridiculous." Dior brought a new fad, and its signature features were a full skirt, narrow waist and large bust. This is at odds with Chanel, who advocates the liberation of the female body. Unwilling and anxious, in 1950, Coco decided to go to the United States and restart her career. Chanel 2.55 was born in this context.

Among luxury goods, the Chanel 2.55 is the first chain bag. Shoulder bags were mostly styles used by workers or soldiers at the time. Aristocratic women often hold bags in their hands, and their hands only need to be beautiful, not to create value. But society's perception of women's roles is changing. The important role women played in World War II demonstrated their potential for entry into the social sphere. Women demand to get out of the house and realize themselves. To a certain extent, the chain bag releases women's hands and also caters to this social trend.

The details of chanel 2.55's design are fondly told, and people like to imagine associating it with Coco's early life. After her mother's death, she was sent to an orphanage at the age of 6. Coco Chanel has always refused to confess her origins in public, or even her birthplace. For a legendary figure, she believed that there should be aristocratic blood and a family full of love and art. But in the interpretation of Chanel 2.55, cocoa's childhood is still quite dramatically invoked.

For example, chains, people say that's because the guards at the orphanage used chains to tie the keys, and Coco's inspiration came from there. The color of the sandwich in the bag is purple red because the orphans in the orphanage wear clothes of this color. Such an imagination is even extremely refined, such as Chanel 2.55 has a compartment, because when she was in the orphanage, Coco began to fall in love but had no place to put love letters, and she felt that the compartment of the bag was a good place. In fact, what people have always thought of as cocoa's rejection made her, and it was her simplicity and vitality from the commoners that broke the red tape of the nobility at that time.

Chanel 2.55 was discontinued at a later stage, and the original Chanel 2.55 is now only available on the second-hand market. Still, this vintage handbag provides the basic elements for many of chanel's later designs. For example, "diamond check", at that time, most of the riders' clothing and harnesses used diamond check quilting, and Chanel was inspired to apply it to handbags. In the following 63 years, the diamond check element repeatedly appeared in chanel's various costumes or bags, becoming one of the symbols of chanel. On the sofa of Coco Chanel's residence, there are also cushions filled with diamond check elements.

Shortly after Coco Chanel's death, designer Karl Lagerfeld became Chanel's artistic director and the "Galeries Lafayette" of the fashion world in the face of the outside world's disapproval. In February 2005, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Chanel 2.55, Carl Lagerfeld reissued a 2.55 exactly according to the design of Coco Chanel in 1955, and the commemorative bag was named "Chanel Reissue 2.55". This replica bag later became a baseplate, adding designs to it every season to introduce new products for the season. New materials and decorations are constantly changing, with embroidery, silk satin prints, tweeds or metal studs.