The 2.55 got its famous name from the month and the year in which it was originally issued, which is February 1955. All the features of this iconic bag have their own little background story. 

The burgundy lining represents the religious boarding school where Coco Chanel grew up. In fact the burgundy was the color of Coco Chanel’s uniform at the religious boarding school Coco attended.

The zipped compartment on the inside of the front flap was made to hide love letters.

The outside flap on the bag was used by Coco to store her spare change.

The strap chains were inspired by the key chains the nuns would wear at the convent where mademoiselle Chanel grew up.

Gabrielle Chanel decided to add straps to the bag to free the hands of high society ladies. These women would usually hold a clutch, which was both unpractical and tiring. As you can imagine, carrying a bag can be a difficult task while joggling Champagne flütes, theatre flyers and hors-d'oeuvres. To add shoulder strap was a revolutionary idea in the fifties.

Coco Chanel’s inspiration came by observing soldiers who’d carry cross-body bags. In February 1955 the iconic bag was born. Her clientele was initially quite skeptical about this new rebellious design, but the bag quickly became a fashion sensation. In its first year it became so popular that mademoiselle Chanel had to refuse orders. 

Gabrielle Chanel added the quilted stitch pattern to add volume, structure and shape to the bag. The bag has a twist-lock on the front which is called the mademoiselle lock. ‘Coco’ wanted to create a new era for women by liberating and empowering them. A functional and practical fashion item was a completely new idea at the time and was in line with Gabrielle Chanel’s vision of women’s fashion.