I hope coach continues to play on the level of a fashion house, but I hope they don't continue to raise prices of their 1941 collection to the point where they cost as much as the items for most major runway players. I have noticed a rapid and severe deterioration of many of my once-loved brands in the last several years. I live near a good outlet mall and I used to be able to get really nice things for extremely good prices; the caveat was that I would buy cashmere sweaters at the end of spring, winter boots in June and silk dresses in the dead of winter. In other stores, items would be 'current' season but they would be from last year's collections or even further back than that. That never bothered me because I like timeless pieces and high quality over trendiness and quantity; after all, a navy cashmere sweater is not going out style. Now, many of these stores have wised up and created 'factory' stores with similar designs as current collections but very very poor quality. Take J.Crew for example: the outlet version is intolerable and their FP items in the 'main stores' have also deteriorated. Many of their classic pieces have angry and disappointing reviews along the lines of 'this used to be my go-to [item] for years but lately the quality is terrible and it rips in a few wears, thin fabric' etc. Then the top notch items are in their super expensive "Collection" section where they make a limited quantity of items for high prices. I have a few of those pieces and the quality / style do feel much nicer. But the thing is, it's sort of the quality that their regular items had only a few years back. Many companies have went in the direction of either 1) Low prices and poor quality, aka fast fashion or 2) great quality and almost absurd prices, even for things that are simple and fundamental.
How does this long rant relate to my point about Coach? Well, before Stuart, Coach seemed to be flailing (even they clearly thought so, since the numbers probably reflected this reality well). The factory store was kind of like what I described before and the retail fell flat for many people (kind of like J.Crew does now). People are willing to pay more for good quality and Coach had the awareness to recognize it. Many brands are putting themselves up for sale or closing many stores because they are sitting on that island of poor quality/boring design and not so low prices. Some go belly up, some decide to become fast fashion and some get their **** together and make changes in the right direction. What worries me is that Coach might join the ranks of top brands and their best items may become extremely expensive. Maybe they will decrease their outlet items and even regular retail items over time?
I hope they have more collaborations in the future. The Baseman collection is amazing and I wish some of it was still available or made a come back. I think they can keep their playful style (like the space collection, rexy stuff, baseman, felix, race car type line whatever it's called) while not going full cartoon or full bedazzle mode. I'm counting on you Coach >:
When I think of Keith Haring, I think of the 'Apartheid' piece, and also the one of the two people holding up the large heart over their heads.
