Random thoughts about the new Legacy and Coach

abwd

abwd

Member
Jul 25, 2008
3,520
7
#1
I think I have mentioned that I have been a loyal coach lover for...hmmm...18 years or thereabouts?

Although I am disappointed with the new Legacy line and some of the directions the company seems to be taking, I still love coach more than LV and most of the other stuff out there I see. I don't know, the fact that they come out with new stuff every couple of months means there hope for the new handbang hg to show itself. I guess I think the quickly rotating stock can be a good or a bad thing. AND, I LOVE the variety. I can't imagine buying 3 LV's at $1,000+ in the same canvas.

So as a coach fan and somewhat of an old friend, I feel like I need to ride this one out. Kind of like COACH as a company is hitting a little midlife crisis and in a few years they will ditch the flashy sports car and realize what's important. My dh went through this so I know it can be irritating, but it wil all work out in the end. LOL. You'll see, in a couple of years there will be another line with the beautiful thick leather, customer service will be top notch and we will all be on here talking about how to get our hands on the vintage Garcia leather because it was so light and beautiful and the styles were awesome!

Thanks for letting me share my little relationship with coach. This is like handbag shopper's therapy and I feel much better getting my thoughts out there. LOL.
 
#2
That's an interesting observation on the new and older legacy bags. Eighteen years of dedication is a long time in comparison to myself--I just discovered Coach at the beginning of this year and bought my first Coach bag on March 2008.

I've observed how Coach has changed over time. You may enjoy this trip through memory lane: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.coach.com

For me, even though I've only been a Coach fan for less than a year, I have amassed many Coach bags, wallets, wristlets, and accessories and I really enjoy this 'ride of my life'. It feels like I've been a Coach fan longer than I actually am. I change bags practically every day and look forward the day ahead because of the beautiful variety and choices I have available.

I know that I should be happy that I live far away from any Coach outlet store. This aspect is controlling my Coach cravings a great deal because I don't like paying the high retail prices asked--and then seeing the prices drop drastically at the outlet a few months later. Still, I am feeling really sad that they are thinning the legacy collection and adding this new stuff in. I would like one more older legacy bag but I will take my chances when I can go back to an outlet and have a look.

In fact, I am getting fascinated by the older classic Coach bags (1990s and earlier styles). I have a coworker who carries a small black flap with a small silver turnlock closure and I think it's adorable. The bag is so soft and looks so durable. I met another person who carried a large classic hobo and she proudly displayed the bag and the original hangtag and I just had to touch it. It was so very soft and strong and the sound of the bag as it zipped open....then closed...then open again...sounds exactly like my medium black/black siggy bleecker duffle (I just got from my bf for my Birthday recently). So, things may change drastically (old Classic Coach to today's siggy styles) but some things remain exactly the same (like the low deep tone of the big strong YKK zipper drawing across the bag).

I hope to be able to grab a new older model Classic bag at the outlet later this Fall. I love every single bag I've purchased and I look forward to seeing more new styles. Luckily, I only have boutiques and expensive department stores around where I live so I will just be looking and enjoying the ride.

Take care,
 
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#3
Wow, you would love my older Coaches - I sold a few at consighments shops and Ebay and the rest of them just sit in my closet - but I do have a great red one I might take out. I wish Coach would make a nice red Legacy - I love Legacy and want a real red - not berry.
 
#4
abwd said:
I think I have mentioned that I have been a loyal coach lover for...hmmm...18 years or thereabouts?

Although I am disappointed with the new Legacy line and some of the directions the company seems to be taking, I still love coach more than LV and most of the other stuff out there I see. I don't know, the fact that they come out with new stuff every couple of months means there hope for the new handbang hg to show itself. I guess I think the quickly rotating stock can be a good or a bad thing. AND, I LOVE the variety. I can't imagine buying 3 LV's at $1,000+ in the same canvas.

So as a coach fan and somewhat of an old friend, I feel like I need to ride this one out. Kind of like COACH as a company is hitting a little midlife crisis and in a few years they will ditch the flashy sports car and realize what's important. My dh went through this so I know it can be irritating, but it wil all work out in the end. LOL. You'll see, in a couple of years there will be another line with the beautiful thick leather, customer service will be top notch and we will all be on here talking about how to get our hands on the vintage Garcia leather because it was so light and beautiful and the styles were awesome!

Thanks for letting me share my little relationship with coach. This is like handbag shopper's therapy and I feel much better getting my thoughts out there. LOL.
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:roflmfao: I'm totally cracking up over this paragraph!! I totally agree though, just I never thought about it this way. Great analogy!! So you think it's possible to ride out Coach without a divorce...just maybe a separation??? :P

I'm not an long time Coach admirer, but I started purchasing Coach because I feel in love with the nice thick leather and great quality. I do feel like this is suffering on both accounts at the moment, but I also feel that the thinner glazed leather is a trend in general, and not only for Coach. The quality...well, I do feel that's suffering as of late, which is really beginning to bother me.

I'm sure at least the leather crisis will pass, but I guess their bottom line was enough of the older Legacy bags did not sell at full retail price. What I don't understand is that they seem to equate it to just color and weight rather than price. I don't think this new line is going to do that much better just because if anything, they are charging more for what I consider to be cheaper materials. :shrugs: Great styles, though...I absolutely love the new styles! I just think they need to strongly reconsider the price elevations.

Anyway, I really do hope they ditch the flashy sports car soon!! :P
 
#5
I miss the old Legacy too. The Whiskey Ali is still my HG bag. I don't dislike the new legacy items but they changed the leather and iconic hardware that I associate with the Legacy line. Not to mention that many of the new "Legacy" items don't even have the Legacy lining! The 2006 and 2007 Legacy lines were so stunning and I was hoping to see maybe one new silhouette and new colours for bags like the '07 satchel and the Leigh. That line was so stunning and if it's not broke don't fix it!

However, I still love Coach even if they screw up from time to time. It's not like every other handbag designer doesn't come up with some doozies from time to time. I'll just wait this one out and hope they return to some classics.

In the meantime, the hamptons line has amazing leather as does the Zoe, Madline, Barrett, and other bags. Guess I'll just have to distract myself while I wait for Coach to get back to the good Legacy stuff.
 
#6
Nancy in VA said:
Wow, you would love my older Coaches - I sold a few at consighments shops and Ebay and the rest of them just sit in my closet - but I do have a great red one I might take out.
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Awwww, that's too bad you've sold off your older Coaches. They're such nice bags. I'm really looking into the Classics probably because I'm tired of the newer thinner leathers coming out and that they're jacking up prices with each new line.

Besides, I think the older classic ones feel more 'huggable'. :smooch::winkiss::hugs:

I guess without the lining, it encourages more brave use of the bag because I would need not worry about getting the lining dirtied because there is no lining.

Oh well, I will see what turns up at the outlet the next time (2nd time in my life) I got there.

Take care,
 
#8
baglady39 said:
The quality...well, I do feel that's suffering as of late, which is really beginning to bother me.
I don't think this new line is going to do that much better just because if anything, they are charging more for what I consider to be cheaper materials. :shrugs: Great styles, though...I absolutely love the new styles! I just think they need to strongly reconsider the price elevations.
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Indeed, and let's not forget cheaper labor. With dirt cheap labor costs in China (and they will be moving some Coach production to Vietnam I read) and cheaper materials which they buy at huge bulk amounts which makes it even cheaper you have to point at the ever rising prices as simply greed. I'm sorry but Chinese factory workers get like .70 cents an hour. I means eriously how much does it actually cost Coach to make my $500 bag ? 25 $ ? Coach has a reputation as having an extremely high markup rate, so that ought to tell us something. Bit now they continue to gauge with prices and they quality goes down and production costs go down and the market is saturated with the brand ? For me, its making less sense to buy Coach.
I have to honestly ask myself this....if I saw the exact same bag as say a Gigi, exact same....for the same price but it did not have the Coach name on it..say it was made by the Rose Company-would I buy it for $600 ? I can be honest with myself and say no. Its the Coach name that is part of the "personna". Which kind of tells me something.
And as far as Coach getting over thier mid life crisis...I would not count on it. They are only concerned with bottom line profit for their shareholders.
 
#9
Well, my L:heart:ve for COACH started about 35 years ago! I've enjoyed many Collections that they've released over the years, but the latest version of Legacy dissappoints me with this Garcia leather. I'd never heard of Garcia leather before this collection.

I can totally understand Ladies wanting lighterweight bags and I appreciate that COACH has responded. I just wish they would have given the Collection a different name, and not fooled around with the legacy of Legacy!

I do like the new Legacy styles, but the leather in certain colors is cheap looking to me. I did just purchase a Mini Skinny in Bottle Green and that will probably be the extent of my venture into Garcia leather. This case is small enough that the thinner leather seems to be more structually sound. The wallets appear to have the same sturdiness, but the handbags are another story, IMO.

Again, this is just my opinion, so if you own it, Enjoy it!

There are still plenty of other COACH Collections for me to explore and fall in love with, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not being attracted to the latest Legacy Line.
 
#10
I'm a long term Coach fan as well and LOVE the old Legacy leather (up until last year :P). But I am REALLY happy with the lightness of my new Legacy. If it wasn't called a Legacy, I would still like it. That's just me though. I personally don't feel it's cheaper, just different than before. I would still love my '06 Legacy's back, but this is a nice change for me.:yes:
 
#12
Well, I wish that Coach was having a mid-life crisis, but unfortunately the people who started the company and made sure their bags were high quality are long gone. Reading how Coach USED to operate is what keeps me a Coach collector and why their vintage bags last forever.

Here's a not-so-brief excerpt from http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Coach-Inc-Company-History.html.

Coach was founded in 1941 as a family-run workshop based in a loft on the edge of Manhattan's garment district. The company started with just six leather workers who made small leather goods, primarily wallets and billfolds, by hand. In 1946, Miles Cahn, a lifelong New Yorker, came to work for the company. By 1950, he was running the factory for its owners.

By 1960, Cahn had taken notice of the distinctive properties of the leather used to make baseball gloves. With wear and abrasion, the leather in a glove became soft and supple. Following this model, Cahn devised a way of processing leather to make it strong, soft, flexible, and deep-toned in color, as it absorbed dye well. At his wife Lillian's suggestion, a number of women's handbags were designed to supplement the factory's low-margin wallet production. The purses, given the brand name Coach, were made of sturdy cowhide, in which the grain of the leather could still be seen, instead of the thin leather pasted over cardboard that was used for most women's handbags at the time. This innovation marked the company's entry into the field of classic, long-lasting, luxury women's handbags that Coach would come to define.

In 1961, after more than a decade of running the leather workshop, the Cahns borrowed money to buy out the factory's owners and take possession of Coach. Throughout the next decades, Coach produced solid handbags in an assortment of basic styles. For the most part, the company steered clear of fast-moving trends, opting instead for traditional, conservative elegance and quality. Gradually, high-priced Coach products developed a reputation and a certain cachet. In the late 1960s, as fashion changed radically, Coach deviated somewhat from its traditional product line, introducing additional models that were designed to complement trendier styles in clothing. In 1969, the company began to market items such as a structured bucket bag, which was produced for only one season, and a fringe "shimmy" bag.

By the early 1980s, the Coach plant occupied four floors of a building on West 34th Street. The company was manufacturing purses, briefcases, billfolds, and belts, using skilled laborers, many of whom had emigrated from Argentina. Paying their workers wages that were a dollar or more higher than rates in other factories, the Cahns enjoyed good labor relations with their employees, which allowed them to produce a steady flow of Coach products.

Department stores were selling all the Coach bags that the company could produce, and by the early 1980s it had become necessary to ration the products to various vendors. Despite the potential for vast expansion of their market share, the Cahns continued to run their business in the same way that they always had. They had little desire to move their factory out of its urban Manhattan setting, to a place where rents and taxes might be lower, space more readily available, and wages cheaper. In addition, they did not want to change their methods of production so that goods could be made more quickly, at the expense of quality or workmanship. Instead, they continued to run their business on a personal level, maintaining first-name relationships with many of their workers, and inviting department store buyers from New York to tour their factory, to observe the craftsmanship that went into each Coach bag.

In 1983 the Cahns purchased a 300-acre dairy farm in Vermont as a weekend diversion from their business in New York. By 1985, after determining that none of their three children had any desire to take over the family leatherware business, the Cahns decided to sell Coach.

In July 1985, the Cahns cemented an agreement with the Sara Lee Corporation. In return for a sum reported to be around $30 million, the conglomerate took control of the company's factory, its six boutiques, and its flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York. Sara Lee promised that it would continue to operate Coach in the way in which it had always been run. At the time of the sale, the Cahns split $1 million of the proceeds with 200 longtime employees, on the basis of their seniority.
 
#14
CaptainPicard said:
Thanks for the article...seems now the are just another Corporate giant who only cares about Wall Street and their stockholders...profit is the bottom line and nothing else.
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Very true! Which is why when I hold an original "MADE IN NEW YORK CITY" bag in my hands I appreciate the work that went into it and the company philosophies during that era. :love:
 
#15
CaptainPicard said:
Indeed, and let's not forget cheaper labor. With dirt cheap labor costs in China (and they will be moving some Coach production to Vietnam I read) and cheaper materials which they buy at huge bulk amounts which makes it even cheaper you have to point at the ever rising prices as simply greed. I'm sorry but Chinese factory workers get like .70 cents an hour. I means eriously how much does it actually cost Coach to make my $500 bag ? 25 $ ?

They are only concerned with bottom line profit for their shareholders.
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I am not trying to justify the pricing, another question might be how much does it cost to maintain the overhead of Coach Execs and employee salaries, headquarters, distribution, boutiques and outlets. We're not just paying for cheap labor.

Every new release may have one or two items that I say "wow" that's a nice piece, whether I buy it or not. Coach does have a great variety of styles and price ranges, classics and novelties. We all become disappointed when a certain style may not be available in a preferred color or size. I will probably never stop looking to see what's next!

edited: I do not own any Classic legacies, but I do appreciate the quality. I can only comment on the legacy line from about 2002 - current.

I agree that 06/07 Legacy's are the best leathers, and glad that I have my Ali's. I am of the mindset that 2006 Legacy's were the 60th Anniversary Celebration pieces. Which should mean that these pieces are special, noteworthy and limited. The new legacy although have different detailing is more like the legacy pieces before 06.
 
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