A comprehensive history of Chanel (2024)

Born in Saumur, France in 1883, Coco Chanel grew from an inauspicious start to found one of the world’s most famous fashion brands. Now a global powerhouse with a business comprising haute couture, ready-to-wear, accessories, beauty and fragrance, its 110-year history is a lesson in reading the zeitgeist, responding to the mood of the moment and capitalising on a designer’s personal instincts and style. Here’s how Chanel became the brand we know and covet today…

1910

Coco Chanel opens her first store at 21 Rue Cambon in Paris aged 27. Initially a hat store known as ‘Chanel Modes’, it quickly grew a clientele of glamorous European actresses who admired (and imitated) the simple, elegant style of its proprietor.

1913

Chanel choose Deauville, a seaside resort in Normandy, as the location for her second boutique and expands her range to include a collection of jersey 'sportswear'. Offering women a new way to present and celebrate their bodies, they are an instant hit, growing Chanel’s fame across the country.

1915

The first Chanel couture boutique opens in Biarritz.

1918

The famed Chanel store at 31 Rue Cambon opens - it remains the brand’s HQ to this day.

1917 Chanel designs in Les Elegances Parisiennes

1921

The iconic Chanel No 5 fragrance, created for the house by Russian perfumer Ernest Beaux and named both because it was the fifth scent presented to Coco Chanel and for her superstitious belief in the number being lucky, is released. The house’s first fragrance was an instant hit, reigning supreme for decades and gaining famous fans including Marilyn Monroe.

1922

Building on the success of Chanel No 5, the lively, floral and delicate No 22 fragrance is introduced.

1924

Chanel’s first cosmetics line launched comprising of face powders and lip colours while the Societe des Parfums Chanel is founded to capitalise on the brand’s growing beauty and fragrance business.

1924 is also the year in which Coco Chanel introduces her signature tweed suits after discovering the fabric during frequent trips to Scotland with the Duke of Westminster. A traditionally masculine fabric, her feminine take offers a new uniform for modern women.

Coco Chanel in 1920

1926

The ‘Ford’ dress becomes the world’s first Little Black Dress and is hailed as an instant classic, with American Vogue calling it “the frock that all the world will wear”. Daring in its simplicity, with long sleeves, a drop waist and accessorised with a single string of pearls, it is a style which continues to inspire designers today.

1927

The brand’s first skincare line launches offering 15 products aimed at helping women gain the perfect complexion.

1931

At the behest of studio boss Sam Goldwyn, Coco Chanel heads to Hollywood to create clothes for its burgeoning cohort of glamorous silver screen stars.

1932

Bijoux de Diamants, an exhibition of fine jewellery created in honour of the diamond, is staged at Chanel’s private home in Paris. It begins a high jewellery tradition at the house, cemented with the creationof Chanel Fine Jewellery and Watches in the 1990s, which still sees the brandpresent bi-annual collections on the Place Vendôme.

1945

After reaching the height of her fame a decade earlier, with 4,000 employees and boutiques across France (including five on Rue Cambon), World War II forces the house to close all but 31 Rue Cambon. Despite the austerity and war effort, fragrances and accessories continue to be in high demand - especially among American soldiers buying gifts to send home.

1955

Having re-launched her couture house the year before, with updated, original designs that belieher septuagenarian status, Coco Chanel introduces the iconic 2.55 bag. Its quilted leather design and gold chain become instant bywords for the Chanel style and are regularly referenced in the house’s modern collections.

This year also sees the debut of the first and only men’s fragrance to be created during Coco Chanel’s lifetime. Blended by Henri Robert, Pour Monsieur is a woody, citrus scent praised for its refinement.

1957

Another iconic Chanel piece - the two-tone shoe - makes its way to boutiques. Originally conceived as a beige leather slingback with black toe cap, it has a uniquely flattering way of shortening the foot and lengthening the leg. Cue immediate imitators.

1963

Chanel finds itself unintentionally wrapped up in a world-changing moment when Jackie Kennedy wears a pink Chanel suit on the day of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

1971

Coco Chanel passes away on 10 January 1971, aged 87, and is mourned by a global cadre offans including Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy and Jane Fonda. Accordingly, her posthumous collection performs exceedingly well.

1978

Despite its international fame, until 1978 Chanel remained a couture house in the classic mode. The introduction of ready-to-wear this year saw the house’s collection and accessories exported globally for the first time - much to the joy of fans.

Credit: Christopher William Adach

1983

Karl Lagerfeld is announced as the new artistic director of Chanel, with responsibility for designing all haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessory collections. Already known for his groundbreaking work at Fendi, a position he retainswhen joining Chanel, Lagerfeld injectshis unique spirit into the brand, which had been floundering under a lack of direction after the death of Coco. He quickly sets about revamping ready-to-wear and turned the interlocking ‘CC’ monograph into a house icon.

1987

With accessories becoming an increasingly lucrative part of Chanel’s business, the brand introduces its first line of watches in the Premiere. Designed by Jacques Helleu, its rectangular dial is inspired by both the stopper of the No 5 fragrance bottle and the shape of the Place Vendôme.

2002

The new millennium sees Chanel become a guardian of classic Parisian craftsmanship as it acquires eight speciality firms renowned for their quality and perfection. These include Desrues (metalworkers), Lemarié(flower and feather crafts), Maison Michel (millinery), Massaro (shoemaker), Goossens (goldsmith), Maison Lesage (embroidery), Guillet (floral accessories) and Atelier Montex (embroidery). Held under a subsidiary company called Paraffection, their talents are showcased in the brand’s highly anticipated Metiers d’Arts collections.

2005

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art honours Chanel with a dedicated exhibition. This is a rare recognition of the house’s contribution to fashion history that has been given to only a handful of designers, including Alexander McQueen, Charles James, Rei Kawakubo and Paul Poiret.

2008

Chanel’s association with art continues with a travelling exhibition designed by Zaha Hadid. Featuring artworks inspired by the house’s quilted handbag, the exhibition stops in Hong Kong, New York City and Tokyo before being donated to the Arab World Institute in Paris.

2019

Karl Lagerfeld dies following complications from pancreatic cancer on 18 February. Chanel and Fendi come together to honour Lagerfeld with a joint memorial in Paris in June. His right-hand woman, Virginie Viard, is named as Chanel’s new artistic director.

2020

While the global coronavirus pandemic causes many fashion brands to question the traditional fashion cycle, with its mammoth six collections a year and non-stop international travel, Chanel vowed to remain true to its tried and tested routing of couture, resort and seasonal collections. Its Resort 2021 collection, however, became the first in the house’s history to be presented solely online, with its Capri show made impossible by the pandemic.