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In 2022, and thanks to decades of high-production runway shows, the iconography of French fashion designer Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s storied house extends far beyond a crossing double CC logo: It’s chain-link water bottle holders (which first turned up on the spring 1994 ready-to-wear runway, alongside superstars like Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell), it’s camellias (including the ballet-pink fascinators tied to models’ heads at spring 2002 Couture), it’s tweed jackets (worn by Monaco’s Princess Charlotte at this year’s Couture show, where she galloped on horseback past show-goers). And for every historic look, there’s a modern adaptation that lives in the house’s beauty collection today.
At your fingertips, there is a newly launched Riviera yellow Les Vernis yellow polish to match Campbell’s spring 1992 ready-to-wear tulle layers or the silvery limited-edition Modern Glamour shadow quad a la J.Lo’s spring 2001 couture Oscars gown. In honor of spring 2009 ready-to-wear’s black lacquered guitars worn slung over models’ shoulders, Chanel offers a patent long-wear eyeliner—a musician’s stage essential. And for the fall 2010 ready-to-wear runway, where male models were clad in furry dusters in the faux tundra, there’s a hydrating Boy De Chanel lip balm. Today, models walked a runway set against a backdrop that resembled the house’s much-discussed tweed, where classics were imbued with gentle twists, like a liquid-y metallic shirt dress or a jumpsuit in a shade of navy so subtle that, like its evening blue mascara counterpart, its visibility requires a camera flash.
Here (and with many thanks to Vogue’s archive editor Laird Borrelli-Persson for bringing pre-internet catwalks to the web), we present a beauty product for every iconic Chanel runway look.
Fall 1991 RTW
Christy Turlington’s spin down the runway in head-to-toe coral, accompanied by a thumping Madonna soundtrack, was designed by Karl Lagerfeld for a clean sweep of Chanel’s former image. Today, a swipe of the line’s Rouge Allure Ink Matte Liquid Lip Color is built to last.
Spring 1992 RTW
Chanel just launched a Riviera yellow Les Vernis yellow polish to match Naomi Campbell’s buttery tulle layers seen peeking out from under the boys shirting of the season (Coco Chanel, as Borrelli-Persson points out, was known for “raiding her lovers’ wardrobes.”)
Spring 1993 RTW
In her double-CC logo sunglasses, one can imagine that Kate Moss might be holding a matching compact of this Silver Reflections Shimmering Powder in the palm of her pearly white gloves.
Fall 1994 RTW
The first sight of the now-infamous chain-link water bottle holder was on this runway, seen here carrying a glass vessel—perhaps an early nod at the reusable versions that have replaced plastic bottles. Now, Chanel has taken its beauty packaging to sustainable heights with its 97% natural Chanel No. 1 De Chanel Lip Cheek Balm, which the brand points out is “housed in environmentally sound packaging for a reduced carbon footprint.”
Spring 1995 RTW
A spectator-style collection of black, white, and clear pieces roamed the “café society chic” runway, making a swipe of transparent Longwear Eyebrow Gel an easy pairing for the season’s genderless charms.
Spring 1996 RTW
Chanel’s iteration of Casual Friday clothing read as a tonal, earthy palette of khakis and golds on the catwalk. For a tonal take on eyes, Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Natural Eyeshadow Palette in Deep offers easygoing and everyday sparkle.
Spring 1997 Couture
As if to juxtapose the spring 1997 couture’s handmade, figure-lengthening silk structures, Chanel’s newest mascara offers a machine-made 3D-printed brush designed to stretch lashes in innovative and futuristic ways.
Spring 1999 Couture
The spring 1999 couture collection was gilded and gleaming, and even models’ faces were coated with glittering pigments not unlike the effect created by this transparent, shimmering gel.
Fall 2000 RTW
A column of sheer ruby pleating could as easily walk down today’s runway as this Y2K-era catwalk as any of the many rugby-adjacent (and refillable) shades within Rouge Allure L’Extrait’s collection would.
Spring 2001 Couture
The silvery limited-edition Modern Glamour take on Chanel’s Les 4 Ombres Multi-Effect Quadra Eyeshadow is a perfect accessory to J.Lo’s chosen Oscars gown.
Spring 2002 Couture
Perhaps a coat of Chanel’s best-selling Les Vernis Ballerina shade would have played off of the ballet-pink camelia fascinators tied to models’ heads.
Chanel Spring 2003 Couture
A pink explosion of rouge walked the spring 2003 couture runway, and it lives on today in a Jous Contraste Powder Blush hue of the same l’attitude.
Spring 2004 Couture
For “a mix of severity and frivolity,” layers of embroidered crystals and sequins captured the effect of precious metals floating down the spring 2004 couture runway. A limited-edition creation for Chanel’s Les Chaînes d’Or collection, a swipe of this shadow offers a familiar glint.
Spring 2005 RTW
Muted bedtime tones lulled models to sleep on printed neck pillows under the cover of silky eye masks. Now, Chanel’s longwear powder shadow has a texture to match its lullaby-gentle palette.
Spring 2006 RTW
Although La Base mascara is simply a primer—not a white pigment like the graphic liner seen on models in 2006—the volumizing effect on fringe is as classic as their denim layers.
Spring 2007 Couture
To finish the runway’s sparkling tweed suits, this limited-edition peachy highlighting powder is embossed to reflect the shape of a Chanel button.
Spring 2008 RTW
Denim everything and plenty of ’50s Americana calls for a velvety matte red lip in a limited-edition velvet finish meant to represent a good luck charm.
Spring 2009 RTW
In honor of spring 2009 ready-to-wear’s black lacquered guitars, worn slung over models’ shoulders, Chanel offers a patent long-wear eyeliner—a musician’s stage essential.
Fall 2010 RTW
For the fall 2010 ready-to-wear runway, where male models were clad in furry dusters in the faux tundra, there’s a hydrating Boy De Chanel lip balm.
Fall 2011 RTW
Ahead of her acting success, model Abbey Lee began as a runway favorite for Lagerfeld. Here, a fitting match for her fall 2011 ready-to-wear look arrives in the eyeshadow quad hue Road Movie.
Spring 2012 RTW
Tim Blanks wrote that this season Lagerfeld “brought an iridescent mother-of-pearl shimmer to the collection—the lightness literally shone through.” Similarly, the sheer finish of Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick in Perlescent lets the light, and natural skin, shine through.
Fall 2013 RTW
Playing with an oversized, tomboyish scale for the house’s famous tweeds, Lagerfeld called the fall 2013 ready-to-wear collection “up-to-earth.” In classic navy, Boy de Chanel 3-in-1 Eye Pencil keeps its intense color for up to twelve hours.
Fall 2014 RTW
Set in a Chanel megastore, the fall 2014 ready-to-wear runway represented supermarket shopping for the elite, complete with chain-link grocery baskets. Here, Palette Essential’s graphic mix of lip and cheek color and highlighters in the spirit of those geometric-printed shopper totes and coat linings.
Resort 2015
Set in the sci-fi Dubai location, Resort 2015 was meant to live in a city of the future. What better to represent that slightly haunting skyline above the clouds than Illusion d’Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow in Mirage?
Spring 2016 RTW
Turning the Grand Palais into an airport terminal with stops in Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo was just another day in the imagination of Karl Lagerfeld. To travel the world in style IRL, Le Rouge Duo won’t travel outside the lines.
Spring 2017 RTW
“Intimate technology” was the theme of spring 2017’s ready-to-wear runway, where robots intermingled with silky chiffon sundresses. Le Blanc Rosy Light Drops delivered a soft-focus finish for the modern era of high-resolution photos.
Spring 2018 Couture
A breath of fresh spring air in a traditional French garden, Lagerfeld was inspired by the new appointment of President Emmanuel Macron when he designed the spring 2018 couture collection. Here, a coral shade of Blush Comete to represent a rising star in all of us.
Spring 2019 RTW
A beach-y and sandy runway calls for Coco Chanel’s signature suntan. And if it’s faux, all the better.
Spring 2020 RTW
For Virginie Viard’s first ready-to-wear collection, the designer envisioned who the Chanel It girl would be in the future, for a younger generation. On their frames? Tweed minis, T-shirts, and jeans. On their faces? Tinted lip balm.
Spring 2021 RTW
Hollywood and off-duty film stars were the imaginary fit models for Viard’s spring 2021 ready-to-wear collection, and looks were meant to take the modern actress from coffee breaks to red carpets. So, too, does a sheer coat of Coco Gloss in a cool tint fit for the silver screen.
Fall 2021 RTW
Hamish Bowles writes: “Viard played with the marriage of sturdy tweed and fragile chiffon throughout the collection, inspired—as she explained—by the legendary style of the late Stella Tennant, a Chanel icon for so many years, and a woman who embodied the chic of a certain school of aristocratic negligence” about the spring 2022 ready-to-wear collection. Here, a tribute to Tennant’s iconic brows.
Spring 2022 RTW
Inspired by late ’80s and early ’90s supermodels and the photographers that helped make them famous, the spring 2022 ready-to-wear runway was in full, living color with models posing in oversized blazers, twirling in tweed suits, and waving capes of fabric like sheer flags for the flashbulbs. This Limited-Edition Longwear Eyeshadow in Ore Ambre captures the gilded details.
Spring 2022 Couture
In the house’s signature tweed jacket, Monaco’s Princess Charlotte galloped on horseback past show-goers at this year’s Couture show. A wing of inky, long-wear liner will last through the wind.
Fall 2022 RTW
For today’s runway, set against a backdrop that resembled the house’s much-discussed tweed, classics see a gentle twist. Similarly, limited-edition shadow liner in graphite hues sync up with liquid-y runway iterations, and the subtlest navy jumpsuit is reflected in an evening blue tint of mascara that’s so discreet it requires a camera flash to truly see it.
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