In 1926 Coco Chanel published a picture of a short, simple black dress in American Vogue. It was calf length, straight and decorated only by a few diagonal lines. Vogue called it "Chanel's House of Chanel Dress French The Metropolitan Museum of Art A Coco Chanel Little Black Dress, released in 1926. Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC. Gift of Mrs. Georges Gudefin The little black dress (LBD) was popularizedand effectively invented as a modern fashion stapleby French designer Coco Chanel in 1926. At a time when black was largely associated with mourning, Chanel introduced