Chanel Handbags in Bond Street

I miss the handbag shops the most now that I no longer live in the capital. There is nothing like the range of shops here in Sussex. Brighton is about the best place round here for  designer bags, but that is a poor comparison to London’s West End. Last week I went to the Chanel boutique in London’s Old Bond Street and I was blown away with the beautiful things on offer. I have always been a big fan of Chanel fragrances: my favourite is Coco, followed by Allure and No.5. I recently decided that there is no point in bothering with other perfumes as I always ignore them in favour of Chanel. Well the Chanel Boutique is a fantasy playground for a Chanel fan like me! I confess that I had no idea there was another range of fragrances created by Coco, called “Les Exclusifs de Chanel”. They are all on display in the boutique and there is a card with the name of each, so you can spray a sample on to it and you will have a record of your favourite. Each one represents a different time or memory in the life of Coco Chanel, they include Gardenia, Coromandel, Bel Respiro, and – my top scent – 31, Rue Cambon. That was the address of Coco Chanel’s first shop in Paris, where the legend began.

But get to the bags, Flora – that is why we are here, I told myself. The handbag I wanted to see and touch was the famous Chanel 2.55 reissue chain shoulder bag, originally created by Coco Chanel in February 1955. The chain is interwoven with leather to match the colour of the handbag – black, white or silver. It is available in three different sizes: the smallest is like a purse, the largest is more like a tote, but for me the best sizes is the middle one, which is 10″ long. This is the Chanel bag that has been copied widely by other companies and there’s always a good reason for that. Coco was not phased by her work being copied by other designers – she would have been more concerned if nobody thought it worth copying.

The design of the Chanel 2.55 handbag is, like the fragrances, completely personalised to Coco Chanel. She wanted to design a shoulder bag, unusual in those times, to free up women’s hands for drinking champagne and applying makeup – all the important activities. The assistant showed me all the little details that were included to suit Coco’s requirements. On the back of the bag is a small outer pocket where some coins could be kept, to be given as tips to doormen or taxi drivers. remember, this was 1955! Inside there are two pockets: one is for a powder compact, the other was for a compact of solid perfume – this is no longer on sale but the pocket is still there. I suppose most of us would put a phone there nowadays.


The quilted effect came from the quilted jackets worn by jockeys, which Coco thought would be a good finish to the bag. Quilting the leather is also a lengthy and meticulous process which adds to the cost. The inside is lined in dark pink leather and outside the reissue of the 2.55 carries a rectangular closure clasp. This is not the Double C clasp for which Chanel designer handbags have become known recently. That clasp style was designed by Lagerfeld in his time at the helm, in the 1980s. At £1500 the price is high but this is a timeless Chanel designer bag that will last a lifetime.