What name did Vogue give Coco Chanel’s 1926 little black dress in a famous comparison?

Vogue called Coco Chanel’s 1926 little black dress “the Ford dress.”

The comparison appeared in American Vogue in 1926, when the magazine presented a simple black Chanel design as a fashion equivalent of the Model T Ford: practical, widely adaptable, and likely to become broadly influential. The description helped establish the little black dress as a modern wardrobe essential rather than merely a garment associated with mourning.

Chanel’s design was notable for its relatively plain silhouette and lack of elaborate decoration. Its appeal came from versatility, ease, and the way black could look both elegant and contemporary. The phrase “Ford dress” referred to the idea of standardized modern usefulness, not to a literal partnership with the Ford Motor Company.

Later designers repeatedly reinterpreted the little black dress, but Chanel’s 1926 example is widely treated as a defining early milestone in its history.