Cover Chanel reintroduces its most iconic bag in a new campaign. (Photo courtesy of Chanel)

The Chanel 11.12 bag (better known as the Classic Flap Bag), which Karl Lagerfeld reinterpreted from the 1955 2.55 bag, gets a second life through Virginie Viard and the lens of Ines and Vinoodh

First designed by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel in the 1980s, the 11.12 bag––now known as the Classic Flap Bag––with its signature turn and switch clasp was actually a reinterpretation of the 2.55 bag imagined by Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel in February 1955.

(Related: The True Story of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel: The Childhood That She Never Wanted You to Know)

Tatler Asia

While fairly similar as both feature points de bride stitches and quilting in lambskin leather, the 2.55's lock is rectangular and comes with a chain-only strap, while the 11.12's lock is in a double C shape, and comes with a metal chain interlaced with leather. 

Tatler Asia

And the bag is now back in the hands of a woman. Creative director Virginie Viard––who modernised the style in new fabrications including jersey, tweed, silk, velvet and denim––also enlisted creative duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin to shoot the new campaign, titled The Chanel Iconic.

(Related: Meet Virginie Viard: Karl Lagerfeld's Successor To Chanel)

Featuring house friends like Anna Mouglalis, Rianne van Rompaey, Imaan Hammam, Louise de Chevigny and Zoé Adjani frolicking around iconic Parisian spots in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the new campaign celebrates the famed style and aims to reintroduce it to a new generation.

Discover more at chanel.com 

Topics