We’re the Kids in America
Review of Coach Spring 2025 Fashion Show
By Mark Wittmer
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Classics revisited. Cross-generational cool.
While Stuart Vevers’ Spring 2025 collections for Coach felt free-spirited and light, this playful attitude belied one of the most thoughtful examples of the creative director’s balancing act between Gen-Z appeal and craft heritage yet.
Vevers explained backstage that he had sought to channel the excitement of today’s youth subcultures discovering yesterday’s youth subcultures. That spirit of stylistic inspiration and making something from the past one’s own manifested itself in the form of denim pants, moto skirts, and aviator jackets crafted from post-consumer garments, distressed knitwear, playfully modded sneakers, and T-shirts printed to resemble a punkishly scribbled-over and doodled-on notebook or yearbook page. Pinstripe overcoats and leather blazers were reminiscent of thrift shop finds, while cute dresses and ball caps rounded out the spectrum of casual yet polished cool. Familiar features from the brand’s archives were supersized and redeployed, while accessories took on playful and larger-than-life shapes.
THE DIRECTION
One challenge about creating looks that are so directly inspired by vintage pieces and the personal style of New Yorkers you might see on the street is that, while the vintage-loving zoomers that make a large part of Coach’s target audience may resonate with and be inspired by the collection, there’s not much here in terms of ready-to-wear that they can’t find in vintage shops, or even make themselves. But since the accessories were so distinct, this might actually be a smart idea: by creating a relatable wardrobe as their basis, Coach then shows how its unique bags can take a vintage-head’s prized pieces to the next level.
THE QUOTE
I’m fascinated by how the next generation are discovering American classics for the first time. I was trying to explore through their fresh lens – cutting things up, sketching over them, changing proportions. It’s always been a fascination for me, whether it’s youth culture from the past or today.”
THE WRAP UP
Vevers nicely hit that balance with cohesion and focus yet playfulness, seeing an impressive range of American classics through a youthful lens. It’s understandable that fans of Coach’s more uptown image of years past will see this latest chapter as another step away from its traditional heyday – but times change, fashion evolves, and so does brand strategy. Kids are always the future, and Stuart Vevers is right to uplift them as the creative changemakers who make today, without completely losing sight of what came before.
