Morning coffee, Accessible Luxury and the High Line
Every weekday morning I have coffee with parents who also send their kids on a bus from TriBeCa to the Upper East Side at 7:12am. We are a motley crew of moms, dads, dogs, and younger siblings who stumble down, bleary eyed, to one of the coffee places in our neighborhood.
Every day is a different mix of people which keeps it interesting. Sometimes our coffee talk will last ten minutes, and other times we end up sitting there for forty five minutes. No matter what we are always adjourned by 8am. Our topics are like the NY Mag approval matrix - high brow, low brow, despicable and brilliant. Today we discussed tariffs, the best dog breeds for NYC, Cher’s autobiography, the ridiculousness of kids afterschool sports and spit roasted lamb. It was probably one of the things I missed most when I was stuck in bed for two months, and I am so happy to have it back in my life!
One of my coffee mates asked me to do a substack on handbags - so I figured I would tell the story of when I went to work at a classic New York leather handbag company.
I was recruited by Coach Inc. in 2011 to develop their North America E-Commerce site and strategically grow their online business. I was not looking to leave JCrew, but I had a very short list of other brands I would consider going to work for, and Coach was one of them. I remember when my older sister traded out her high school backpack for the Coach Duffle bag and it was absolutely a coming of age moment for me. It was the first time I learned that fashion did not need to meet function.
During the early 2000s Coach had tremendous financial success and transformed from an American leather goods company into a global powerhouse. They navigated the 2008 recession by introducing a lower-priced logo collection, expanding factory outlets, and launching the brand in emerging Asian markets. I remember going to visit my husband’s family in Taiwan and all the Coach stores were next to Louis Vuitton. Their international brand positioning was impeccable!! and should be a Harvard case study. I went to visit the Coach coffee shop in Taipei and it was packed.
Almost all of my time at JCrew was spent focusing on the product. Mickey Drexler (JCrew CEO at the time) was obsessed with product and we would have marathon sessions examining fabrics and debating the minutiae of design elements. This product education shaped me, but it also consumed nearly all my professional energy. As my product expertise matured, I found myself interested in exploring how marketing communications can enhance the product.
Coach had brilliantly used their marketing communications to position themselves as an “accessible luxury” brand - offering bags for $300 - $600 as compared to the European fashion houses that were selling handbags starting at $2,000. They had a flagship store on Madison Avenue and gave middle class consumers an opportunity to own a status symbol, without the high price tag (cue Michael Kors and Tory Burch)
Coach corporate headquarters were on 34th Street between 10th and 11th avenues, which was their original manufacturing facility. I lived on West 12th street, so I would take the newly built High Line to work, passing all the jet lagged families looking to conquer a tourist stop before anything else was open. The High Line was not finished being built (it stopped at 20th street) so I would walk the remainder of the way along 10th Avenue, watching construction crews break ground on what is now known as Hudson Yards. (Never forget the first NYC Neiman Marcus - you were too good for this world)
It was freezing during the winter months walking on the west side, but B & H Photo had their corporate offices on 10th avenue and I would see all their employees walking to work. The owner of the company and many of their employees are observant Satmar Hasidic Jews and wore the most breathtaking floor length double breasted coats and fur hats. The hats are called Shtreimels (lined in velvet with fur all around) and coats are called Rekels. They are a beautiful dark navy blue, and compared to everyone else walking from Penn Station I was here for the FASHION.
Coach had a great onboarding process and I remember learning so much about the company. They were a NYC family-owned leather shop that was founded in 1941, making mostly men’s wallets. They admired the durability and softness of baseball gloves and decided to use the same method when making their product (they are credited with inventing the “glove tanned leather” phrase!). If you have ever had a classic Coach bag you will remember the most gorgeous supple leather and unlined interior that aged beautifully over time.
Coach did not become a household name until the 1960s when they brought on Bonnie Cashin to design a Women’s accessory line. She designed the first “Cashin Carry Tote” which was made to be a more durable (and fashionable) version of a paper bag. She also invented the turn lock closure that you see in the signature classics collection.
The design archives were in the basement of our corporate offices and were rows and rows of handbags (in every color!) labeled and organized by date and designer. It is not open to the public but on occasion we were able to walk through it. When I was an Adjunct Professor at FIT in 2016 I took my class on a EPIC tour of the archives (more on that in another substack!!)
In honor of accessible luxury I linked a few leather good brands that don’t break the bank.
COACH is the OG accessible luxury brand and the Iconic Coach Duffle still hits.
still so gorgeous all these years later
they also have a sneaky good trench coat
Hunting Season - this is such a fantastic clutch for summer
Iacobella - The grooviest part about these bags is you get to pick you own crystal so it is technically a mental health purchase if you get any questions about this at the end of the month
I would lift my white leather accessories embargo for this one
Bembien - this are for my corporate gals hitting the streets of NYC in high summer who need to fit a laptop but want be on the beach
black colorway giving raffia but it’s actually leather and appropriate for Wall Street
Liffner - you had me at Scandinavian leather brand
St Agni - Australian brilliance
I also love the chocolate but it’s on backorder
Tory Burch - I have not stopped thinking about this bag since it came out. I love the black.
Love love love reading about your experiences in fashion. More please.
Spot on! My Taiwanese mother is always assigned a Coach outlet shopping trip by her friends and family in Taiwan before a visit. Genius marketing by Coach to elevate the brand in Asia. Love the history lesson and a color coded photo ❤️💚💛💜💙