Imagine a time where social etiquette dictated that you match your shoes with your outfit.  Actually maybe don’t… it’s too depressing.

Well in 1957, after ‘inventing’ the little black dress, the braided suit and the much lusted after quilted bag, Gabrielle Chanel broke with convention again to bring her patrons the two-tone shoes, liberating women from the antiquated perception of elegance.

Starting with the signature black and beige, Chanel subtly varied the colour palette over the years, but continued to use the sling back silhouette until the 60’s, when the foot was enveloped completely.

This AW16, creative director Karl Lagerfeld re-embraced Gabrielle Chanel’s two-tone style sending every look down the catwalk in the classic heels. Whether the model was sporting a trouser suit, or an evening gown, the shoe stuck. Demonstrating, in Karl’s words, how ‘the slingback has become the most modern shoe’.

With the new collection launching in stores this week, the Parisian fashion house has made exclusive slingback videos on their youtube with the fashion world to celebrate the reintroduction of one of Gabrielle Chanel’s most underrated but revolutionary designs.