Happy 60th birthday to an An Icon

How iconic can a pair of shoes be?

Well you just have to look at the two tone shoes created by Coco Chanel to know.

Revolutionary when Coco launched them on the market 60 years ago,  the concept has certainly lasted the test of time.  

You have to understand that up until that time, shoes where monochrome.  They simply matched whatever you were wearing.  Coco wanted to bring out a shoe that was elegant, comfortable and durable.  The two tone was born, beige and black, round slightly pointed toe, sling back with a 5cm block heel.  

Women where going out and about a lot more, leading a more independent life -  taking public transport, working even. The aim of her revolutionary shoe was to take you straight through from breakfast to lunch to dinner.  Her idea with the black tip was to elongate your leg as well as camouflage any scuffs you may have made when running around town.  

The two tone was an immediate hit.

From here, she teamed up with a renowned bookmaker Massaro and started to play around with the design.  She introduced new colours - blue, maroon, gold -  she elasticated the sling back, changed the height and shape of the heel and toe.  She famously said, "All you need are four pairs of my shoes and you are set up!"

Since taking over as Design Director of Chanel in 1993, Karl Lagerfeld has continued the tradition. The icon is now available in more colours,  flowers and padding have been added and is available in sneakers, ankle boots, espadrilles, ballerinas, thigh highs and more.

Now we can't call that 'fast fashion' can we?