by Leonore Dicker
 
Logos have this powerful way to stamp an item and claim it. Whenever we see two interlocked C’s on a fashion item, for instance, we have a tendency to straightaway think of Chanel. The same goes for every other luxury brand that has managed to get its logo out there – but have you ever wondered why these labels have chosen those specific, and sometimes mysterious, logos? Here are the stories behind 4 of them.


CHANEL
Chanel’s overlapping double C was first introduced in 1925 on the bottle of the Chanel #5 perfume. Some believe that the logo was meant to represent two horseshoes, as they’re a symbol of success and luck. Others state that the interlocked c’s were simply the initials of Coco Chanel – the founder of the French luxury brand.


 
VERSACE
Gianni Versace chose Medusa’s head –an evil character from Greek mythology that turned onlookers into stone– as the label’s logo in 1978 as she embodied fatal attraction. Donatella Versace later explained that Gianni “thought that whoever falls in love with Medusa can’t flee from her” – just like Versace.


 
HERMÈS
The Hermès logo was introduced in the early 1950’s and comprises of a Duc carriage attached to a horse. Rumor has it that the logo is a shout out to the label’s humble beginnings as a horse saddler manufacturer.


 
MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA
If you own a piece of clothing by this brand, you might have noticed that the barely stitched white tag is inked with numbers from 0 to 23. Margiela states that it’s, “A proclamation of anonymity, the desire not to distract from the garment with a name brand, a response to the tyranny of logos. The four white pick stitches were first conceived to hold the labels in place and to be easily undone, thus rendering the item unidentifiable.”