Exploring the Coach Archives in New York City

coach archives

In New York City, in the basement of the Coach Headquarters, there is a room where classic Coach  handbags find immortality. This is the Coach archive and it’s truly a physical catalogue of the evolution of the brand from day one to 2012. Row after row of handbag designs are meticulously organised by date and designer and labelled accordingly. This is not just where handbags find happy retirement, it’s also where Coach fanatics go to relive their past and dream of what’s next in Coach’s future.

Back in September of 2011 I was invited to tour the Coach archives in the lead up to meeting with the Coach design team when I was asked to create the Fashion Foie Gras tote. The lovely archivist, Jed, handed me my white gloves on the morning of my visit and politely indulged this over obsessed Coach fan in a complete tour from the first row to the last. Of course we began with the baseball glove that started it all and worked our way through two hours of leather heaven, finally completing our town with the present day styles.

At the time of my archive tour I was snapping everything in sight and before I left I was told that I was allowed to post pictures but would find a much better opportunity to share my experience with the release of new products for autumn winter 2012. So here it is, the season we spoke of, and I can now completely understand why the wait was worth every second.

For AW12, Coach have released a spectacular Legacy collection that is like nothing we have seen before from Coach, yet everything we have seen before. Ok that might make no sense at all to you if you haven’t seen the new Legacy Collection (check it out on the Coach Website now). This is a series of bags that take the highlights from Coach’s past, in shape, leather and colour, and create what I think is the BEST group of bags yet to come out of Coach HQ. I quite honestly have lost all control when it comes to purchasing from this collection and I’m pretty sure Mr. FFG now thinks I am trying to recreate my own Coach archive in our flat in London.

Before you flip over to the Coach site to browse the goods and stock up for the season, take a look at where the brand has come from with the pictures below. As a lover of all things American in fashion and luxury, it just doesn’t get much better…

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