Here, two embroiderers spend more than a week on each bag - 120 hours or so in total - attaching a tapestry of beads and Swarovski crystals in shades of strawberry, fuchsia and navy, in shapes resembling tiny cups and minute rosettes. The pieces then travel to the Lesage embroidery workshop in Paris, established in 1858 and acquired by Chanel in 1990. Beginning life in the 200-person factory in Verneuil-en-Halatte, 90 minutes north of Paris, the handbag’s lambskin components are cut by a subset of artisans - trained for at least six years - who specialize in ultradecorated versions. This latest iteration of the 11.12, beaded with an abstract bouquet of camellias - Coco Chanel’s favorite flower - is among its most complex and lush. But while the shape of the purse has remained consistent through the decades, Chanel continues to iterate its embellishments, capitalizing on the house’s small specialist craft ateliers, called Métiers d’art.
CHANEL FLAP BAG MEDIUM CODE
The reinterpreted bag was named the 11.12, evoking the internal style code of Lagerfeld’s medium-size version, the A01112. In 1983, Karl Lagerfeld, the label’s longtime creative director, subtly updated the 2.55, replacing the simple twist Mademoiselle clasp with interlocking C’s, and would go on to make other modifications. Like most of her ideas, that purse, dubbed the 2.55 (to commemorate the month and year it was introduced), had feminist underpinnings: The strap allowed women to keep their hands free instead of clutching a handle. The origins of Chanel’s classic flap handbags can be traced back to February 1955, when the house’s founder, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, created her first pocketbook with a shoulder strap.