Coco Chanel
The Chanel 2.55 is the It Bag. With its quilted material and chain handles it is luxury at its best and is popular now as it was when it was first created by Coco Chanel in 1955.
The bag's famous quilting was inspired by quilted coats worn by boys at race tracks. Coco Chanel introduced the chain strap to enable women to carry their bag on the arm instead of carrying them in their hands.
The bag is a favourite of celebrities with everyone from Mischa Barton to Sienna Miller. However with their price tags upwards of £1000 the bag is a little out of reach of us normal folk.
Fortunately the bag has spawned many imitations and the high street is full of copies. Coco has a refreshing attitude to copies of her designs: "I would shed tears the day no one copied me."
The best one we've found is this Dorothy Perkins offering. Their version is a credit crunch friendly £12 and comes in the quilted material with the chain strap.
It comes in white, black and this seasons tomato red.
FemaleFirst - Jessica Watson