Everything You Need To Know About Coach’s First Show In New York

Today Coach graduated with fashion honours. Stuart Vevers, who has been at the American brand since 2013 as executive creative director, has been working hard to raise global awareness of the brand’s strength both in and outside of the handbag market and the spring/summer 2016 runway show – a step up from the usual presentation format – put the combination of the two onto the world stage. So here’s what you need to know about the new show in town…

The FROW was one of the best yet. You’d be hard pushed to beat Givenchy, but this was as strong as any we’ve seen. Kiernan Shipka, Debbie Harry, Harley Viera Newton, Christina Ricci, Ciara… do we need to keep showing off?

The buzzword here is ‘super-heritage’. That means All American classics – like the biker jacket for example – reconstructed and tweaked just far enough to make them feel fresh, new and desirable again.

Ditsy florals were surprisingly tempting. We don’t think we’ve been into a fine flower print for a while, but there was something about the splicing and dicing of them in retro dresses and dark colours that definitely encouraged the audience into instagramming.

There are new bags. Well, of course there are! The leather Outlaw satchel is of course the bad girl option. We’d also be quite keen on picking up a pair of the lopped-off cowgirl loafers. On paper this sounds terrifying. In reality and in an array of prints – we particularly liked the zebra – this works.

The location was a constructed space sitting on the city’s famous Highline. Making the most of the abandoned railway track vibes, Coach planted wild flowers and grasses around a reflective runway and the soundtrack started with the rumblings of a locomotive. The sun streamed in and we were all transported to a long lost prairie far far away… where Debbie Harry just so happened to pop up in visor sunnies.