Displaying items by tag: Stuart Vevers

You walk into the new Coach store on Regent Street and the first thing to confront you is Rexy, Coach’s T-Rex dinosaur. This isn’t the replacement for Dippy the Diplodocus, the Natural History Museum’s famous dinosaur, which is going on a regional tour, but it’s just as magnetic.

Left - Putting the sexy into Rexy!

The new store is impressive. It feels like a one-off. Coach has always been a perfectly acceptable, mid-market and luxury with a small l, brand. 

Right - The handbags move around the Heath Robinson-type contraption

But, with this new store they’ve really stepped it up a gear. It shows a Creative Director - Stuart Vevers - putting himself into the brand and being allowed to do so. What they’ve done is thought about injecting personality and identity rather than focus solely on ‘luxury’. 
So many brands get fixated on luxury and forget about identity and personality. For some, it’s all about the Carrara marble and shiny finishes and they’ve started to look soulless, empty and, ultimately, boring. 

Left - Coach Regent Street's giant Rexy is going to be auctioned off

The new Coach store has a mechanical track with bags running along it, a giant pink neon dinosaur in the window and special product, downstairs, designed with British tourist badges and travel souvenir symbols. It’s fun without being gimmicky. It feels like somebody has thought about it rather than simply rolling out a format the world over. Yawn.

In contrast, I popped into the new handbag hall in Selfridges. The biggest in the world, when finished, it has all the usual suspects: Valentino, Celine, Balenciaga, Chanel, Burberry, all with their signature shop-fits. It all feels so predictable and formulaic. The only one of interest was Gucci with a mosaic floor featuring their, now, signature wasps. 

Luxury needs personality. It needs a strong individual to lead with instinct and intuition. Brands need to create newness and not just consistency. Coach seems to not only made Rexy sexy, but also fun. It's approachable and welcoming. If brands are going to get us off our sofas, offline and outside, there needs to be something worthy of going out for. 

Coach Creative Director, Stuart Vevers, has been slowly building Coach's fashion credibility. Expanding the American brand's fashion collections, including a full menswear show in London, the British designer is adding cool to Coach's accessory heritage.

This season was all about contrast leather jackets and  buffalo checked knitwear mixed with an element of 90s grunge.

Get involved #TheChicGeekCollections

Credits - All clothes & shoes Coach AW16

Shot by Robin Forster on OlympusPEN

The first menswear outing from American brand, Coach, saw some of the best and largest sheepskins of the season. New Creative Director, Brit, Stuart Vevers, reinterpreted his womenswear coats for men with huge furry pockets and contrast detailing ending with TheChicGeek in a look that would make Del Boy proud!

Credits -  All AW15 Coach

Coat Exclusive To Selfridges

Shot by Robin Forster on #OlympusPEN