The Gabrielle was the first major new Chanel bag since the Boy of 2011, and WWD reported that the house meant it to become a 'pillar' style alongside the 2.55 and 11.12. Karl Lagerfeld unveiled it on the runway in October 2016, at the Spring/Summer 2017 show staged as a data centre in the Grand Palais, and it reached boutiques in March 2017. He said the idea came from turning a pair of virtual-reality goggles upside down; the press also linked it to the binocular cases men carried at the races, a menswear reference Gabrielle Chanel herself had used for the 2.55.
The bag has a light, quilted body in aged calfskin sitting on a rigid thermoformed base, which keeps it stable while letting it move with the body. Its adjustable strap is a double chain in gold-tone and silver-tone metal threaded with leather, so it can be worn over one shoulder, across the body, or over both shoulders at once. The lining is a garnet-coloured cloth, a nod to the founder's first bags. Besides the main shape it came as a hobo in three formats: a backpack, a large shopper and a soft purse held in a rigid half-case.
The launch campaign, photographed by Lagerfeld, starred Kristen Stewart, Cara Delevingne, Caroline de Maigret and Pharrell Williams, the first man to front a Chanel handbag campaign. WWD gave launch prices from about US$3,000 to US$33,000 for a large alligator version.