Why Coco Chanel Created the Little Black Dress 1920s Lace Dress with Hip Sash and Bell Sleeves Style & Salvage The Little Black Dress By Chanel Black And White Silk Sculpted Figure GABRIELLE CHANEL, A LITTLE BLACK DRESS, CIRCA 1926 Christie's The radical power of the little black dress Not every fashion revolution starts on a runway sometimes it starts with one black dress. Before the 1920s, black dresses were linked to mourning, funerals, and loss. Then Coco Chanel changed fashion