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Coach is sooooo emo. Even when they throw a birthday party-themed runway show — the brand is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year — it’s still a somber affair for the models, who scowl their way down the catwalk like teenagers being dragged to church against their will. But don’t let their dour runway expressions fool you. Backstage they were all smiles. How could they not be? This show was a party!
Coach Spring 2027 (BFA)
Coach Spring 2027 (BFA)
Coach Spring 2027 (BFA)
Coach Spring 2027 (BFA)
In typical Coach fashion the silhouettes were all fairly straightforward — slouchy suits and overcoats, boxy leather tops, and bias-cut dresses that skimmed the body. Of course, there were some seasonally anachronistic details like the thickly knit sleeves on many of the tops and dresses, that would have been better suited to a fall collection, especially given how intense the warmer months have been lately (and will continue to be thanks to global warming), but they did add some nice texture to a collection that was otherwise quite paired back.
Coach Spring 2027 (Luca Zanoni)
Coach Spring 2027 (Luca Zanoni)
Coach Spring 2027 (Luca Zanoni)
Coach Spring 2027 (Luca Zanoni)
Not that paired back is a bad thing, especially not in Coach’s case where, let’s be honest, the accessories are generally understood to be the real story. Even so, there were some wonderful standout pieces in this collection including the inside-out leather coats and jackets (all the leathers, really) and all those playful glittery things at the end, which felt sort of grunge and glamorous at the same time.
Coach Spring 2027 (Luca Zanoni)
Coach Spring 2027 (Luca Zanoni)
Coach Spring 2027 (Luca Zanoni)
Coach Spring 2027 (Luca Zanoni)
As always, the styling by Olivier Rizzo was spot on and helped make the parade of suits seen at the beginning of the show and sprinkled throughout seem thoroughly plausible for a cool Gen Z on a night out in the Lower East Side, even though I’ve never actually seen anything like it in real life.
The accessories were also a lot of fun: the pin-backed leather birthday bows were charming clustered on the models lapels, and the the watches and crystals hanging in pairs on long leather chords around the models necks provided just the right amount of visual interest to the otherwise unadorned and universally high-necked tops worn throughout. And those leather party hats? Forget about it! So cute and fun. If Coach doesn’t produce those, the ones that walked the runway are sure to go missing by the end of the season and become cult collector’s items.
Coach Spring 2027 (Luca Zanoni)
Coach Spring 2027 (Luca Zanoni)
Coach Spring 2027 (Luca Zanoni)
And then there were the bags, of course — the reason for the whole endeavor. In general, the bags had a much more lived-in worn look, like they’d seen their fair share of parties, which made them feel much more contemporary at a time when people are intentionally roughing up their Birkins to make them look less precious. New silhouettes were introduced, including the Turnlock Tote, inspired by a Coach design from 1970 and featuring the turn lock hardware introduced by the house’s first lead designer, Bonnie Cashin. Crafted in boarded leather and suede, the bag appeared throughout the show with hand-rubbed metallic foil, confetti, glitter and nail-polish treatments and feels like a guaranteed best seller. The Inside-Out Brooklyn reveals the internal construction of one of Coach’s most recognized recent silhouettes, while the Tabby was reworked in decorative party finishes and as the collaged Tabby, which brings together a collection of sourced vintage Coach pouches in a single bag. That last one is perhaps a harder sell to mainstream consumers, but it was super cool nonetheless.
Coach Spring 2027 (BFA)
Coach Spring 2027 (BFA)
Coach Spring 2027 (BFA)
Coach Spring 2027 (BFA)
Footwear, meanwhile, included the brand’s new Hudson sneaker, with the slim proportions of a 1970s tennis shoe, and a slouchy Western boot in calf leather. Metallic rub-off finishes, confetti, and glitter-and-nail-polish treatments gave the shoes the feeling of customized, one-of-one pieces and the flatness of them — for there was not a high heel in sight — made them and the whole show feel much more modern.
“I was thinking about memory and the way familiar things change as we live with them,” said Coach’s creative director, Stuart Vevers. “I didn’t want to make a retrospective. We turned familiar Coach ideas inside out, exposed their construction, softened them and left traces of a celebration on them. Having 85 years behind us gives us the confidence to look forward.”
Check out the rest of the collection below.
You can view the original article HERE.
