The Coach Code

STUART VEVERS’ vision for Coach has put the 78-year-old leather-goods label back on the fashion map b

- Natalie Mell

Nothing creates buzz like the fashion industry’s never-ending game of designer musical chairs. Whispers about what a new creative force will do for a brand are bound to make even the most confident designer sweat—because nobody wants their debut to miss the mark. But rather than just taking the reins of a label, Stuart Vevers’ appointment as creative director at Coach in 2013 came with the added challenge of crafting the brand’s ready-to-wear offering—from scratch.

“It’s quite intimidating, having to create something that didn’t exist before,” admits the British-born designer. “Ultimately the clothing had to feel authentic and believable to Coach. It took a while to think about how that could happen.” Despite the daunting task at hand, Vevers concedes that not having any shoes to fill when he presented the accessories label’s first-ever foray into fashion came with its advantages, too. “There was something about having a clean slate that gave me a certain freedom.”

For his first presentation in February 2014, Vevers used that freedom to approach the moment modestly, delivering 19 looks over five days of one-on-one appointments with fashion insiders. Removing the bells and whistles of a runway show, all eyes landed squarely on the wares, or, more specifically, the outerwear. “We really focused on outerwear, [because] I thought that felt really believable and authentic from a leathergoods house,” says Vevers of the collection. Cue praise from an industry that agreed.

It wasn’t long until those initial varsity jackets, shearling-lined suedes and one particularly notable Apollo 13-emblazoned sweater that harked back to a look from the film The Shining also won over the street-style set, standing the designer in good stead to build on his vision for the brand.