THE JOURNAL
As Coach celebrates its 75th anniversary, MR PORTER reflects on the history and future of this New York style powerhouse.
Modern luxury: what does it mean? This is the question turned over again and again by British designer Mr Stuart Vevers in his collections for Coach, a quintessentially New York brand that celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The results of such thinking speak for themselves – since 2013, Mr Vevers’ take on Coach’s particular brand of relaxed, all-American cool has yielded an enviable range of statement outerwear, hardware-heavy sneakers and covetable accessories, simultaneously high-end and accessible, classic and a whole lot of fun.
But of course, the story doesn’t start and end in the current decade. Coach was founded in 1941, as a family-run workshop of six artisans, based in New York City. Its phenomenal growth since then is a story that echoes the evolution of luxury itself. There’s the heritage stories, such as founder Mr Miles Cahn’s invention of the house’s trademark glove-tanned leather (an incredibly durable variety that ages beautifully) in the 1950s. There’s the house’s rise to prominence as a purveyor of “it” accessories under creative director Ms Bonnie Cashin, who joined Coach in 1962. There’s its expansion to a full lifestyle brand in the 1990s, under the leadership of designer Mr Reed Krakoff. There’s the launch of menswear in 1962. Today, Coach’s offering reflects the experience of its multifaceted history, combining a streetwise, New York spirit with a deep understanding of craft and design.
The AW16 men’s collection is a case in point, comprising a series of incredible shearling coats, streetwise down jackets, patchwork shirting and stiff denim chore coats embellished with leather patch pockets. Inspired by late 1970s hip-hop, blue-collar workwear and the all-American get up of Mr Bruce Springsteen, it’s a collection that fully evokes the brand’s only-in-New-York heritage.