Fashion designer and party planner? You could add the latter to Coach Creative Director Stuart Vevers’ resume after the brand’s Spring/Summer 2027 show, which doubled as a celebration of its 85th anniversary. On Wednesday night, the official kickoff of New York Fashion Week, Coach invited fashion insiders to Pier 36 on the Lower East Side for the occasion — a fitting location for the downtown-cool label. Every last detail was accounted for, down to the pointy party hats.
In the show notes, Vevers clarifies that the event wasn’t a retrospective, but rather a party for those who have shaped the house, along with those who will go on to shape it next. “What matters to me is that we keep making fashion that becomes more beautiful through wear, experience and love,” the designer shared.
For the creative director, who took the helm in 2013, clothes and accessories only become more meaningful with time and wear. “The things we love absorb parts of us,” he explained — a notion that informed this season. “In this collection, familiar Coach ideas have been stretched, turned inside out, pieced together, exposed and softened,” said Vevers. “Some pieces seem caught between states, with facings, linings and catch stitches still visible. They feel as though they are still becoming.”
This idea was alive and well from the jump, as the show kicked off with — you guessed it—distressed, lived-in leather, seen by way of sleeveless trench coats, tank tops, and slouchy trousers. Other garments — such as striped blazers and gauzy vests — revealed undone seams, details typically hidden in finished products.
Soft, imperfect glamour was another theme. Suits were embroidered with a metallic floral motif, while a similar pattern appeared on a silk dress with chunky knit sleeves. Sheer fabrics surfaced throughout, peeking out from beneath sleek miniskirts and taking the form of delicate muscle tees.
Long clock pendant necklaces appeared on the majority of models, perhaps a nod to the passage of time — an appropriate accessory for a collection celebrating Coach’s 85-year history. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Coach show without leather bags, which, as Vevers put it, carry you through life. “It goes to work, on dates, and on planes. It gets caught in the rain,” he explained. “It’s given as a gift, borrowed, repaired, or passed down. It holds another person’s memories.” Some models toted roomy light brown leather carryalls with flecks of confetti, while others tucked long shoulder bags underneath their arms. (Some, meanwhile, carried wrapped-up boxes, lest they show up to the fête empty-handed.)
Though the collection was largely made up of solid neutrals like grays, khakis, and browns, around look 46, things took a turn for the… glitzier. Multicolored holographic sequin blazers, floor-sweeping dresses, and matching sets lit up the runway.
Coach brand ambassadors lined the front row, including Storm Reid and Elle Fanning, alongside it girls like Ayra Starr, Sally Carden, and Avantika. And, in case anyone arrived famished, tables were festooned with bowls of crackers, nuts, and olives — a telltale sign of a good gathering.
The runway show concluded with confetti flowing through the air, followed by a live brass band. But the party didn’t end there. Showgoers were invited to let their hair down on the dance floor and snap cheeky pictures in a photo booth. Needless to say, if anyone knows how to throw a bash, it’s Vevers.
Scroll onward to see highlights from the show.
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