A LOVE STORY
Bagaholicboy on his longstanding fascination with Chanel’s 11.12 handbag
Even before he started his holy grail of a namesake website and Instagram account expounding on the world of luxury fashion, Bagaholicboy – designer bag connoisseur and long-time collaborator of Female – made it his quest to demystify the allure of the Chanel 11.12 handbag. Together with the French maison, Female gets him to share about his fascination for this iconic design and how he got a legion of others to love it too.
“Growing up, the Chanel 11.12 – or Classic – handbag had always been You didn’t have to really know fashion to know that there was this bag from Chanel that was popular and generally very visible in media and pop culture. I’m referring to a time when the Internet was scant with information on designer bags and social media had not exploded. I had already started working and was thus getting interested in luxury items.
When I started Bagaholicboy as a blog dedicated to covering designer bags in 2007, finding out more about the Chanel 11.12 naturally became a chief quest. I wanted to know the story behind it. For example, prior to my research, I had always assumed that it had been designed by Coco Chanel, but it’s actually the work of Karl Lagerfeld who had based it on the 2.55 handbag that she had created in 1955, introducing it 27 years later in the early ’80s. (For the layman who doesn’t know the difference between the two bags, I always say that the easiest way to distinguish between them is to look at the clasp: The one on the 2.55 is rectangular; the one on the 11.12 is in the form of the double ‘C’.)
I also wanted to know what made this bag so special: Why is it so significant in the world of Chanel? And why did people seem to love it so much? Then there were far fewer women on the streets carrying the Chanel Classic as there are now, but it was still one of the most distinctive styles you would see out and about. Its quilted leather finish; its clasp; its metal chain that comes interlaced with leather – there were few bags then that sported such details and while I can’t say the same now, it remains as distinct.
And as I started writing about it, I started to get readers asking more questions about the bag, which proved that besides me, there were a lot of people out there who were curious about it. After all at that time, if you weren’t already a Chanel customer or knew people who were, the only way to get a better look at and feel of the bag was to go into the store.
My first up-close encounter with the Chanel 11.12 was at a dinner with some of my family members and their friends during the formative years of Bagaholicboy. One of the guests had it as her handbag – a signature black rendition with gold hardware – and I asked her point-blank if I could see the inside of it. She was shocked of course, but gave me permission – and that was when I discovered that the Chanel Classic isn’t just a handbag with some internal compartments; it’s a bag that offers so much more.
One of the most interesting features within is the zip pocket on the underside of the main flap. How many other handbags have this? Word is that it was designed to hold sentimental keepsakes like love letters. I’ve had readers tell me that it’s where they place amulets, their parents’ wedding photo, even the stub of their air ticket to Paris where they had purchased the bag. It’s for storing personal secrets – how wonderful is that?
With most flap bags, one would immediately see the main compartment upon opening it. With the Chanel 11.12 though, there’s another flap on the inside concealing this main compartment for security. Pry behind it and you’ll find a discreet slot for added convenience. (I’ve been told by many that it’s perfect for red packets during
Chinese New Year.) And as we delve deeper within, what do we get? More pockets – a slot in front that’s generous enough for your smartphone; two smaller ones behind; there’s even one specifically for lipstick, all in addition to the main compartment.
This is a big reason why the Chanel Classic has stayed so relevant and sought after. No matter the variation (a staple, a seasonal runway version, a novelty piece) or size (mini, small, medium, jumbo, maxi), it It’s functional and makes it so easy to keep organised – this even though when Karl Lagerfeld created it in 1982, women’s lifestyles and essentials were very different from what they are today, which also tells me that he really understood women and had designed the bag for them.
I would dare say that there remains extremely few bags that are as well thought-out. For a long time, it was one of the few designer handbags to have a double-chain sling that could be adjusted to allow women to carry it in different ways: dangling long from the shoulder or across the body, or shorter and closer to the underarm. Now this feature has become ubiquitous. I’ve also realised that for most, the Chanel 11.12 will always sit above their waist no matter how they wear it, which is not only utilitarian, but also helps to flatter one’s proportions. Even the length of its chain has been considered.
And of course, Chanel keeps on innovating. Recently, the brand introduced a new calfskin finish with a refined grain, making it an in-between of the buttery soft lambskin and hardy grained caviar leather that the 11.12 typically comes in. It’s not unique to the bag style, but it does mean more options and added practicality for those who are worried about scratching their bags, but aren’t into the texture of Chanel’s caviar.
Through my years of running Bagaholicboy, whenever I explain all of these aspects and the legacy of the Chanel Classic to readers who ask about it (and very often about why it commands its price), they get it. Its combination of versatility, functionality and romance is something one would be hard-pressed to find, especially in newer styles. This is also apparent whenever I go into a Chanel boutique and come across a customer being presented an 11.12 by the fashion advisors. The response is always one of awe – her face lights up – and yes, while retail therapy might have this effect on people, that it happens so consistently with this particular bag is very striking.
To date, I own three Classics – one in olive green caviar, another in black lambskin and the last in black jersey because the material is another Chanel signature – but the one I’m most proud of buying was for my mother about 10 years ago for her birthday. It’s a jumbo in black caviar leather with gold hardware and was meant to be a treat because my mum never grew up with such luxuries. When I gave it to her, her reaction was exactly what I had expected, but still priceless: She glowed; she slung it over her shoulder and studied herself in the mirror; she didn’t know much about it except that it’s famous – and that she wanted it. That is the allure of the Chanel 11.12.” – as told to Noelle Loh