The Chanel Jacket

Some may not know the storied beginnings, but in 1954, Coco Chanel put her pen to paper and designed the iconic Chanel Jacket.

The original design was meant to reflect the crisp rigid form of a hotel uniform, yet retain a dignified femininity.

 The Chanel Jacket

Almost sixty years later, the design retains a very modern look, but also carries the history of the women who have worn the Chanel jacket. Perhaps most famously worn by Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Onassis and Grace Kelly, the design has come to celebrate style and sophistication.

Last year Karl Lagerfeld, photographer and creative director for Chanel, released a photographic study of the history of the design of the Chanel jacket, called The Little Black Jacket.

The book and subsequent art show were filled with pictures of women over the years wearing Coco’s creation. Recently, Lagerfeld has taken the project a step further and released the fourth chapter in the series titled Inside Chanel all about the design’s revolutionary impact on the way women dress.

The Chanel Jacket was originally made out of various colours of tweed; included four pockets, each with a button; and a chain along the inside of the base to keep the shape.

Since that time, there have been a myriad of takes on the style by Chanel and others giving consumers the ability to match the top with almost any outfit they can imagine.

Women today can have a multitude of the top based on Coco’s design and can use it with almost any combination to create a casual, business causal or more elegant outfit. Paired with jeans and a white shirt, the top will make the trips to the grocery store look great.

Take the same Chanel jacket, put it with a business skirt and heels and everyone at work will look up and take notice.

Perhaps only rivaled by a pair of jeans, there is no other piece of clothing that you can buy that is as versatile and timeless as what Coco Chanel designed in the era of Cary Grant movies.