Yesterday, in the throws of my all too usual online shopping ventures, I took note of an interesting campaign on one of my favorite sites to window shop on, Net-A-Porter.com. Featured on the main splash page was one of Net-A-Porter’s online mini magazines entitled, “Coach Classics Love Story.” This was puzzling for several reasons: 1) Why was Net-A-Porter, a shopping space for premier and luxury fashion, selling Coach? 2) Why were they spotlighting and featuring Coach? And, 3) Why wasn’t the classic logo purse that many of us gave/received for every bar and bat mitzvah in the 7th grade being sold (and yes, even boys liked Coach purses too back in the day)?
Coach may have been able to weather the storm of the financial crisis better than most retailers, but in the eyes of the fashion industry, the Coach brand has been “cheapened” and likened to companies such as Banana Republic, a brand that expanded across too many malls and factory outlets. Diversifying itself as an “affordable luxury” brand and making themselves available to nearly every trendy prepubescent girl in America has allowed for Coach to be shielded from the recession. But with consumers allotting more funds to shopping again, Coach has decided to rebrand and reissue a collection of their classic bags that made them a luxury brand in the first place.
The Catch22 of popularizing your company’s monogrammed logos by mass marketing products with a logo has haunted not only Coach but other luxury retailers such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Burberry. From 2000 to 2004, Burberry encountered intense brand cheapening after their signature tartan became synonymous with “Chav Culture,” a group described as low class cheesy celebrities by a slew of British journalists. Timbaland and Tommy Hilfiger also encountered similar problems by becoming associated with rap and “gangster” (gangsta?) culture.
Although no one has recovered as well as Burberry (the most well liked page on Facebook), the standard solution for luxury retailers looking to revamp their brand involves decreasing inventory levels, scaling back on releasing logo covered products, and focusing on e-commerce and social media. Most recently, Tommy Hilfiger has been on an upward trajectory with ad campaigns featuring crowds of prominent runway models and a collaboration with Peter Som and Simon Spurr, two critically acclaimed younger designers. With a current emphasis on Americana and America’s cultural heritage in the fashion world, Coach has found a perfect re-entrance to becoming a coveted luxury brand.
In the Net-A-Porter online ‘zine, Coach capitalizes on their legacy and on celebrating this legacy by accessorizing the 1970’s mood of this summer with a reissued classic Coach bag. Straying far from the “Poppy” Campaign, the juvenile campaign that allowed for Coach to capture the hearts of teenagers, executive creative director and president Reed Krakoff has released 5 iconic classics from the 1970’s such as The Madison Satchel, The Stewardess Bag, and The Duffle. In rich browns, reds, navys and blacks with simple and sleek silhouettes, Coach advertises that there is no better way to complement the retro chic styles that have been taking over the runway. And for the first time, we agree! Wearing light washed high waisted jeans and a silk button-up? The light brown Madison bag goes perfectly. Sporting an oversized cable knit sweater, and suede shorts? The Field Bag is a perfect understated shoulder strap purse that is truly a classic. Coach is on the right path to re-establishing themselves as a legitimate high-end brand amongst an up and coming group of American designers who pride themselves on their American Heritage. With expansion to the Chinese market on top of it all, there is no one stopping Coach but Coach.