Coach FW24 Outfits the Gen-Z New Yorker
At the James B. Duke House, creative director Stuart Vevers’ runway looked to provide the next generation with access to “classicism and its tropes” in the heart of NYC.
The James B. Duke House, a landmark Upper East Side mansion designed by Horace Trumbauer in 1912, served as the big-budget venue for Coach’s Fall/Winter 2024 show on Monday. With keys to the elegant town home (the edifice of which is inspired by the architecture of Château Labottière in Bordeaux), the American fashion brand was able to do what its next-season fashions intended: provide access. “This collection is about the next generation accessing classicism and its tropes to redefine in their image and according to their needs,” creative director Stuart Vevers wrote in the show notes.
The designer, who just last season celebrated 10 years at the Coach’s helm, set out to unlock this fabled idea of opulence for Generation Z by recontextualizing the traditions of a luxury wardrobe for its young, progressive clientele. He did this by juxtaposing casual and formalwear: regenerative cotton and double-breasted leather trench coats layered over oversized “C Crest” hoodies, while tuxedo jackets similarly contrasted loungewear underlayers. Ultimately, the goal was to create something that was somehow both beautiful and unvarnished, and the result was quite adaptable to the style zeitgeist in Coach’s hometown city today. “This tension between something romantic and picturesque and something very real and spontaneous is unique to New York, I think,” Vevers said. “It captures the mood of the collection.”
Coach’s version of luxury exists within the framework of New York, and the brand has never been afraid to be literal in its embrace of its founding city. This season, the brand most obviously bowed to the American fashion capital with charms that realistically depicted taxis, apples, pretzels, “I Love NY” mugs, NYC postcards, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. They dangled from quilted Tabby bags and Soft Empire Carryalls alike; on occasion, they were paired with New York Yankees hats from New Era, too. “We’re based in New York and embracing it,” Vevers wrote. “Fashion escapism is not our style.” In the James B. Duke House, Coach was right at home.
See Coach’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned to Hypebeast for more New York Fashion Week coverage.
