Sunday, July 24, 2005

Re-inventing the classic 2.55

I must admit, I am slowly becoming a Chanel convert with the purchase of my very first Chanel bag - a red 2.55

For this upcoming season (F/W 2005) the current doyenne of the great house of Chanel, Karl Lagerfield, has taken it upon himself to re-issue the classic 2.55 as originally designed by the great Madame Coco Chanel herself.

First launched in February 1955 (and thus its name), the design of the 2.55 was considered avant garde for its time as its shoulder chain straps allowed a woman's hands to be free as she could sling the bag on her shoulder. Yup, we have definitely come a long way in feminine design/fashion since then.

The leather of the re-issue is wrinkled and distressed, giving it a romantic vintage air - like a bag that has been lovingly passed down through the generations from your grandmother to you. Karl has removed the distinctive leather strap running through the iconic chain straps for the re-issue. Instead the metal straps have been lovingly reworked into a vintage fleur-de-lis pattern,almost like delicate shoulder jewellery, with gold hardware for the black, nickel for the white and silver for the gray. The re-issue comes in the above three colours only and will be available in seven sizes, with one that will respect the dimensions of the current 2.55 in the Chanel stores.

The re-issue is expected to hit stores in late August/early September. This bag will surely be one of the iconic bags for fall and will be a perfect complement to the Victoriana trend that's sweeping through the runways for Fall.

 
Re-issue of the iconic 2.55 from Chanel ; article reproduced from Harpers Bazaar.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

did the original 2.55 bag have CC's for the clasp?

PrincessImp. said...

Nope, the original 2.55 was first launched with the clasp as seen in the re-issue, sans the CC clasp which we are so used to seeing nowadays.

Anonymous said...

oh thanks! keep updating i love ur blog!