Witchy Woman

Raven Hair & Ruby Lips,  Sparks Fly From Her Fingertips…
 

TEMPORARILY DOWN FOR SPIRITUAL MAINTENANCE. That’s the message Coach’s 2.8 million Instagram followers received on June 9 before being hit with one simple summons: “Hello… your future is calling. Are you going to pick up?” Cue #LifeCoachNY, six days of life-coach appointments, sound bath meditation led by modern mystic The Hoodwitch, tarot readings, midyear astrology forecasts from The AstroTwins and, because the action converged at the brand’s hip SoHo store in downtown New York, live graffiti and daily DJ sets. An immersive multi-sensory experience created to “wake up all the feels”, the week was trained on helping the brand’s followers find their truest potential, live their best lives. And the people, they came. Such is the pull of the cult of Coach. And the guru spreading the message of mystical cool? Creative director Stuart Vevers, leader of a dedicated coterie of fashion disciples.

To understand this sartorial spiritual awakening we need to go back four months earlier to Pier 36 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where some of Vevers’ most devoted believers, including Selena Gomez, Storm Reid, Sasha Lane, Vic Mensa, Joey BadA$$, GoldLink, Kiko Mizuhara and Winnie Harlow gathered to witness Vevers’ darkly romantic vision of gothic-tinged Americana. The spectral autumn-winter 18-19 show was set on a moodily lit runway scattered with forest debris and shrouded in smoke that swirled overhead as models in rich, just-this-side-of-twisted prairie dresses swept by. With their eyes rimmed in kohl, talismans swinging from their neck and ears, and rings on every finger, these ghostly figures marked a turnaround from the season before, where the runway was paved in glitter and pretty pastel slip dresses stole the show. But then, that was the point.