The story behind your purse

The inescapable presence of great names such as Karl lagerfeld,Coco Chanel, Miuccia Prada and Hubert De Givenchy in the fashion world today often makes us drift into our thoughts and ask ourselves 'who are they?' and 'how are they affecting my style?'.Well, each of these designers created and diffused that color you're wearing or that textile your purse is made of.

Most of the nouveaux riches don't know why their Hermes is called a 'Birkin' or why their Chanel Flap bag seems so common.As a matter of fact, everything we wear was made and thought out by avant-garde couturiers in the past.

Do you know the story behind the 'Birkin'?

The first of these incredible handbags was manufactured in the early 80's for model, singer, and it-girl Jane Birkin. After being seated next to Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight from Paris to London, Jane expressed her disdain for her messy datebook (only to receive one with a pocket in the back cover) and her quest to find the perfect weekend bag. Intrigued, Dumas asked her to describe exactly what size and features she would want in such a bag, and shortly thereafter she received that bag with a personal note.Since that day, the Birkin bag has become one of the most iconic accessories in modern fashion.

What's more,the 'Kelly' bag was named after the american actress Grace Kelly (who became princess of Monaco in 1956) .It was originally called non plus ultra.

After closing her business in 1939,Chanel made a comeback with her tweed jackets and two-tone pumps (1952) and The Chanel bag - shoulder bag of quilted leather in 1957.

The little black dress? (LBD)

The birth of this 'wonder dress' took place,quite traditionally in Paris ; it's parents were Jean Patou and Coco Chanel. Patou, a forerunner of Ralph Lauren provided the architectural line while Chanel contributed to the dash of impertinence (ie .black - the color was traditionally worn by the maid and servants of her couture clientele).

In 1926 she presented a long-sleeved black crepe dress , which American Vogue said would become' a uniform for all women of taste'.Indeed it has, with numerous designers nowadays such as Helmut Lang, Calvin Klein reinterpreting it by using extravagant material and dramatic shapes.

Color blocking?

Yves Saint Laurent was its daddy.He reduced ad absurdum all prevailing conceptions and rules about acceptable color combinations.Radiant orange together with pink and deep red became something easy , while violet combined with yellow and petrol blue or light blue with orange became provocative accent colors.

So next time you pick up a new top or a clutch, remember the ones behind it.