Little black dress: Eternal symbol of elegance and style History Of The Little Black Dress From Coco Chanel To Audrey Hepburn Marie Claire UK House of Chanel Dress French The Metropolitan Museum of Art 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 Chanel's classic 1926 little black dress added to fashion exhibition in Scotland The Independent A Coco Chanel Little Black Dress, released in 1926. Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC. Gift of Mrs. Georges Gudefin