COACH CELEBRATES 75TH ANNIVERSARY WITH RUNWAY SHOW, PARTY

Coach 75th Anniversary
by Stephen Garner
Coach 75th Anniversary Party
Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for Coach

Last night Coach marked the culmination of its 75th anniversary at New York City’s Pier 94 with a dual-gender runway show and party featuring musical sets by guest DJs Lolawolf and Mark Ronson. The evening was a celebration of Coach’s successful re-invention for a new generation of luxury customers in a year which saw many milestone achievements, including the opening of its first Coach House global flagship stores on New York City’s Fifth Avenue and Regent Street in London, as well as the re-location of its headquarters to the city’s newest landmark address, 10 Hudson Yards.

The women’s pre-fall and men’s fall 2017 were presented to a capacity crowd and guests such as actors Drew Barrymore, Dree Hemingway, Zoe Kravitz, Emma Roberts, Michael B Jordan, model Jordan Barrett, musicians Diplo, Mark Ronson, Dua Lipa and Soko, stylist Brad Goreski, and designers Pamela Love and Peter Copping.

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Photos by Thomas Concordia/Getty Images for Coach

On the runway, executive creative director Stuart Vevers presented a vision of American optimism and the cool attitude of the West Coast mixed up with the individualism of New York City. Nostalgic retro graphics – space program, spaceships and planets were paired with shearling, leather and varsity detailing.  Models walked through a set that took inspiration from a motel parking lot complete with vintage cars, snow and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City performed a special arrangement of “Empire State of Mind,” the modern anthem of Coach’s birthplace.

The house mascot, Rexy the Coach Dinosaur also made an appearance at the show, on pieces from an exclusive holiday capsule available from December 9 at Coach House Fifth Avenue and Coach.com.

“New York City, the spiritual home of Coach, is a cultural melting pot that embraces individuality and celebrates togetherness,” said Vevers. “It welcomes outsiders, like me, in a way that’s honest and un-contrived. Those values are more important today than ever as well as being relevant to our goal of making Coach the authentic, modern luxury alternative.”

Victor Luis, chief executive officer of Coach, Inc. said, “We are thrilled to celebrate Coach’s heritage and history of innovative craftsmanship in the city where we were born.  This year has been filled with amazing highlights and we look forward to the next 75 years of bringing the unexpected to our customers around the world.”