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History of the Chanel Sneakers
From fragrances to little black dresses to the Chanel suit, designer Coco Chanel has left her mark on the fashion industry, a style that continues to expand.
French-born designer Gabrielle Chanel didn't take a customary path to the world of fashion. At age 12, following her mother's death, she was placed in an orphanage. The nuns raising her taught her to sew, giving her a skill she didn't know would prove life-changing. Chanel's brief career as a singer in Paris clubs garnered her the Coco nickname and introduced her to people who would help her on her way.
Chanel's start in fashion, in her early 20s, was thanks to the financial backing of two men. That allowed her to open her first boutique in Paris in 1910, a shop featuring hats. As Chanel's popularity grew, she expanded her retail presence and added a women's clothing line, her first dress being one she made from an old jersey. Chanel soon offered to make clothes for a range of folks, from those wanting her jersey dress or local ballet troupes needing costumes.
Even before Chanel introduced some of her most famous clothing options — the Chanel suit, a jacket and fitted skirt, debuted in 1925, around the same time as her "little black dress" creation — the 1920s offered up the legendary Chanel No. 5 perfume.
Chanel's popularity continued to soar in the 1920s and 1930s, but she closed down around World War II, not reentering the world of fashion until the 1950s at the age of 70. She continued her successful fashion run — her Classic Flap bag from 1955 a key addition, as was the Two-Tone women's shoe from 1957 — until her death in 1971, leading Karl Lagerfeld to transition into the role as lead designer.
Lagerfeld introduced the now highly recognizable Chanel CC logo, added watches to the line, and introduced the brand's first sneaker in 1984. The shoe was inspired by the classic women's Two-Tone model. Sneakers were a hit-and-miss affair for Chanel for the next few decades, but in 2014 they made a prominent return and now stand as a key component of the brand's product line.
Chanel's Most Popular Styles
With its success in women's footwear helping spawn a men's sneaker line, Chanel's sneaker offerings have continued to grow. While many luxury brands entered sneakers in the late 2010s, Chanel can trace its roots to 1984 and a heavy re-entry into the market by 2014 that included more than five dozen new designs and colorways.
- The original 1984 sneaker was a Two-Tone Black version, a spin-off of the women's Two-Tone, a slingback style with a sturdy heel meant for comfort and flattery. The sneaker took design cues from the women's line, and by the early 1990s, the sneakers had added the Chanel CC logo and were adorned with velvet.
- In one of the very first luxury house collaborations with an athletic footwear maker, Chanel and Reebok partnered on a Reebok Instapump Fury around the turn of the century, one seen only on the runway and not in retail.
- The Chanel Low-Top Trainer has so many materials and colorways to its name that it's no wonder the style proves one of the most popular from the Chanel line. The athletic-inspired trainer shows off the brand's signature logo. The Chanel sneaker listings are packed with low-top athletic styles derived from training or running. Each has its distinct style by mixing materials, such as suede, nylon, leather, Lycra, mesh and more, with an array of color options.
- A 2017 collaboration with Pharrell Williams and adidas on an Originals NMD Human Race limited edition included a raffle in Paris for the right to buy the $1,160 sneaker. The black Chanel design uses Pharrell and Chanel as wordmarks on the shoe's uppers.
- With success on the adidas Pharrell Williams and Chanel designs, the brand entered the fray in 2019 with its own collaboration with the singer. Based on a white canvas upper, wordmarks appear handwritten and splattered across the upper. The low-top was a popular choice among women.
- The Chanel Sport Luxe offered up nylon and calfskin on a 2018 release atop a running-inspired rubber outsole. Other versions include wool, lambskin and suede.
- The Chanel Transparent 18s High-Top puts a Chanel spin on a basketball-reminiscent style. With heavily embossed Velcro straps across a translucent window on the upper, the design takes a fresh approach to high-top styling.
Chanel Sneakers: Collectibility and Value
The Chanel collaborations with Pharrell Williams hold the most value on the resale market. The adidas-crafted NMD Human Race, a limited-edition offering, can easily fetch over $6,000 for a pair, while the Chanel-made White Canvas creation tops $2,000 on eBay.
The plentiful mixture of materials and colorways across low-top Chanel options keep fans of the brand looking for specific options, whether a Black or Black-White Mesh & Lycra version valued at over $1,500 or a Pink Suede version valued at around $2,000.
Key Chanel Collaborations
Chanel and Pharrell Williams have turned heads both times they worked together — first, for an adidas design within the Pharrell Williams collection and then on a Chanel offering. Fans of both brands flock to Williams' creations. The Chanel and Reebok connection draws the luxury brand into athletic footwear history further than most, giving Chanel a connection to '90s sneaker culture.
Chanel in Popular Culture
Coco Chanel set women's fashion culture on a new course with her designs in the 1920s and 1930s. Chanel became an international sensation, with Hollywood stars clamoring for her product and directors looking for Chanel in their films.
Setting the Chanel Suit and Little Black Dress trends will long stand as a testament to Chanel, along with the run of perfume and notable celebrity endorsers. While the Chanel sneaker heritage doesn't have the same pop, it does have multiple decades of history to go with its growing list of products.
