Hot pink, caution orange and electric blue; it’s a bold scene at the Coach showroom in Hudson Yards. “What we’re really emphasizing this season is what we call acidity,” says Stuart Vevers. “I don’t think they’re too fluorinated.” In the room before us stood a mannequin wearing a fuchsia leather biker jacket; The exact color of their forever favorite jacket.
That person could be someone like Lil Nas X, the Coach ambassador and “curator” they call The Lil Nas X Drop (actually the full name of the series is The Lil Nas X Drop: Designed by Coach, curated by Lil Nas X). “We were inspired by Lil Nas,” explains Vevers. “Then we asked him to pick his favorite piece from the collection. So we took inspiration from him and created the collection, and then we asked him which piece was his favorite.”
his name may appear on a few graphic T-shirts and the clothing with labels stuck inside, but the vibe here is reminiscent of an underground scene and rave fliers, mixed with Techno and groovy fonts, and high Xerox images of kittens and suns with faces (you know the one). Pay special attention to a collection of black T-shirts and hoodies; the team figured out the exact color palette that would fade after years of washing and drying, and used it for print. It’s an uncanny mix of the real and the unreal—it’s not that it’s meant to look old, but it must; rather, it’s about finding the details that make an old favorite t-shirt a favorite. (Elsewhere, the team sourced vintage hoodies and stamped them with graphics for a truly distressed effect.)
These graphics are also used on leather goods, creating A truly coveted, anachronistic accessory, especially on a small square leather bag that appeared to be screen-printed in teal with the aforementioned sun and the Coach logo rendered in block letters. Vevers also brought back the monogrammed carriage print, then mixed it with colorful leather and leopard prints to create patchwork bags with candy appeal.
Designers clearly love mixing classic “traditional” pieces into unexpected pieces aimed at appealing to a Gen Z audience (check out the catalog for selfie iPhone photos), but The Coach collection is still fun for the whole family. In these photos, the aforementioned biker jacket is paired with a mid-length cylindrical leather skirt with classic gold Coach hardware detailing at the hip, which will be a perennial staple in anyone’s wardrobe; a classic long trench coat or fleece The same goes for a pea coat with a fur collar. Even leopard print has cross-generational appeal, and not just because it’s a Bonnie Cashin animal print from the
years. Vevers added, “We want people to have fun seeing it.”
