Coach debuted its Spring 2024 collection with a recent runway show at the New York Public Library. Unveiling the next chapter of Coach Creative Director Stuart Vevers’ vision of heritage as redefined by today’s generation, the experience celebrated Coach’s design codes and archival language as the foundation for personal style and individual expression.
An evolution of Fall’s youthful interpretations of Coach’s American design language, Spring 2024 introduced tailored silhouettes in heritage materials reimagined with youthful counter-culture attitude and the love-worn beauty of one-of-a-kind vintage pieces.
The collection featured leatherware and fringed suede jackets and blazers, as well as regenerative cotton and denim staples, hand-distressed with artisanal techniques to create variations in texture and color – a detail that both celebrates the beauty of pre-loved pieces that become more valuable the more they are worn, and challenges notions of luxury that places an emphasis on perfection.
Spring 2024 introduced and evolved design concepts in Coach (Re)Loved, its programme for exploring circular craft by exploring, designing and learning with an emphasis on reducing waste during the creative process. The collection introduced repurposed leatherware and denim crafted of deadstock and pre-loved pieces sourced by the Coach design team, as well as slip dresses crafted with lace and fabric left over from previous Coach productions. The house also continued to work with regenerative and recycled materials, as well as botanical dyes in slip dresses derived from marigolds, black walnut, logwood, indigo and more.
The collection also debuted sheer, raw-cut slip dresses and worn-and-repaired knit dresses, darned and mended by hand. In addition, the collection introduced a series of collegiate t-shirts and sweatsuits printed with the graphic for Donohue’s, the classic Upper East Side steakhouse, reimagining its iconography as a sporty emblem. Leather goods and footwear offered a playful, expressive contrast to the collection’s heritage pieces, introducing colorful patent sneakers and jelly flats and new quilted iterations of the Coach Shapes and the iconic Coach Tabby bag. In addition, Vevers explored leather versions of everyday bag silhouettes, including a bowling bag and an oversized basket tote.
“Spring is a tribute to the way today’s generation is writing their own story through fashion, and the New York Public Library instinctually felt like the perfect backdrop to unveil this next chapter,” said Vevers. “As I reflect on the past ten years, I wanted the collection to feel personal, too, and to capture the New York fashion archetypes that define my imagination and memories of what the city is, then and now. The collection distills these memories and translates them through Coach’s enduring fashion language – the essential design and quality that inspires people to express themselves freely as they are.”
Held in the New York Public Library’s Celeste Bartos Forum, the presentation juxtaposed the youthful attitude of the collection with the room’s ornate backdrop, customized with décor in Coach’s archival hues. The seating was arranged to give all guests a front-row view of the collection, emphasizing the audience’s role in being part of the story. In addition, Vevers continued his approach of using street-casting to introduce new faces to fashion who represent the spirit of today’s generation.
Vevers presented his latest collection to an audience that included Jennifer Lopez, Lil Nas X, Wu Jin Yan, Lee Youngji, Cami Mendes, Dove Cameron, Lil Buck, Lola Tung, Benito Skinner, India Amarteifio, Sasha Colby, Angga, Isyana Sarasvati, Pongtiwat Tangwancharoen, Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich and Ryosuke Yamada among others.
Notable Malaysian celebrities and social media personalities who attended the show include actor and singer Alvin Chong and fashion influencer Christinna Kuan.
The show was followed with a seated dinner in the library’s Edna Barnes Salomon Room to celebrate Stuart Vevers’ 10th anniversary with Coach, and his vision of reimagining the house’s heritage for now, inspired by his belief that fashion can be a community where all are free to express themselves as they are.
