Chanel
Born in 1883, Chanel was raised by her aunts in the province of Auvergne. Her nickname was “Coco” or “little pet.” Taught to sew by the aunts who raised her, she became a hat designer in 1908, opened two boutiques in 1914, and continued to design smart yet simple fashions despite the fact that the fashion at the time was for frilly and really girly designs. Some say the shortage of fabrics in France through the two World Wars influenced her style. She is quoted as saying she only designed things she wanted to wear.
As you can imagine, this influenced everything about her. The way she wanted to look and even smell, to this day her perfumes are still some of the most widely used the world over.
Despite the smart suits and the unique smell of the perfumes nothing screams Chanel as much as the handbags. The quilted black bags with the double c logo are seen wherever you go and whether or not these are the clutch bags, shoulder bags or even rucksacks (not really) you really have to acknowledge the quality and the craftsmanship that goes into creating such wonderful pieces of work.
I just can't give praise to the quilted bags though, some truly magnificent pieces of work have come out of the house of Chanel over the past years and some of the bags that are being designed now are true masterpieces of our time.
We take a look at Louis Vuitton on the next page, stunning bags.
