The Little Black Dress

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, may very well have been the most influential and innovative fashion designer to date. As Christian Dior put it: "With a black pullover and ten rows of pearls she revolutionized fashion." Not only is Chanel known for her little black dress and her No 5 fragrance, but also her classic and timeless suits, shoes, purses and jewelry.

In 1926 Coco Chanel produced a simple black jersey dress which she described as 'the new uniform of modern women'. Vogue nicknamed the dress the 'Chanel Ford' predicting it would be as popular and accessible as Henry Ford's Model T Car. Pre-Chanel, black was rigidly categorised as a colour to wear either in mourning or by domestic staff. It was not until the early Twenties that black once again became popular, giving Coco Chanel her big idea. Under her design the colour moved from its narrow confines to become a fashion favourite and one that has since been adopted as the shorthand for sophistication.

It started when Chanel’s simple black jersey dress appeared in American Vogue in 1926. The designer described it as “the new uniform of modern women”. She had seen the new independence that working women were enjoying and decided to provide a garment to suit them. Just as women’s place in society was changing so too were the clothes they were wearing.

The long layered dresses were becoming a thing of the past, haircuts were getting shorter and baring flesh – such as shoulders, backs and legs – had become more acceptable. Chanel’s sleeveless sheath-cut design, which sat just above the knee, was about to start a whole new chapter in fashion. "Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury,” Chanel was once quoted as saying, and the LBD was as functional as it was sophisticated.

The little black dress became so important it were deemed worthy of capital letters and its own acronym, LBD.