I was loyal to Coach purses for about twenty years. I would carry a big leather purse for a year or two and it would inevitably get worn, (especially in the past handful of years as the quality went down and/or I was harder on purses) then I would send it back for repair, which is awesome that they do that. Usually they gave me a credit and I would use it for my next Coach purse except last year they half fixed the purse and sent it back but it wasn’t the same. I looked at their offerings, nothing appealed to me and I switched to a different brand. I rotated in some Kate Spade purses but those definitely didn’t hold up and I’ve been carrying a Ted Baker purse (I own this one but I paid about half that) for about a year now and I love it. My long point is that Coach really wasn’t doing it for me with their latest styles so I switched brands and I bet quite a few other women did too.
Coach is trying to change things up, they’re trying to hook a new generation of loyal customers and so they’ve just given Selena Gomez a $10 million contract to “design” for them!
Selena Gomez has signed a huge $10 million deal with Coach to design her own line and become the face of the luxury accessory brand.
A source told us that, as part of the deal, Gomez would design her own line for Coach and star in ad campaigns.
Meanwhile, on Thursday night, Coach capped off their yearlong 75th anniversary celebration with a fashion show and star-studded party at Pier 94.
I do feel sorry for Chloe Grace Moretz but she was just the cherubic face of the brand and I don’t think she was doing much for them. Gomez is the most followed person on Instagram and Coach is surely paying primarily for her social media influence. Plus, if she can refresh their designs I would take a look and consider carrying their purses again. It’s hard to get a definitive read on her style but looking through her recent photos it’s eclectic. Sometimes she has a classic trendy vibe but she also does boho well. This collaboration seems like a decent idea. The money is crazy but good for her. I always root for Selena.
Here are some photos of Gomez with her purses. I see two different Louis Vuitton purses, but in the most recent photos of her, at the airport in the beige pants, she’s carrying a Turnlock Tote from Coach right? (That looks just like the backside of that tote.) I love looking at purses. I also found photos of her in February of this year with what looks like a baby blue Coach purse, it’s hard to tell from the side but it looks like she’s been a Coach fan for a while.
photos credit: FameFlynet and Pacific Coast News
Fashion is not about art, creativity, or even elevating style anymore…it is about reaping gains from social media.
Exactly. I thought Coach was heading in the right direction a couple years ago when they hired a new designer. He added a decent Euro/Urban edge to the clothing and shoe lines that was sorely needed. Their handbags, however, dropped even futher in quality and style. The company seems to be floundering.
I guess they assume she can help sell something like 250K plus bags. Coach is an ok brand I collect LV (no monogram please) at the customer base I think Coach competes with Michael Kors.
Agreed. I collect LV also, and I think that Coach is on par with Michael Kors. Quality is not that great and I personally find them to be way overpriced. I know someone who bought an MK bag for $498 and one of the buttons broke right off.
I actually prefer Coach men’s messenger bags/briefcases to their women’s line of the same–they seem sturdier and less…embellished? Haven’t bought a purse from them in years, but for a briefcase, the men’s line has held up for a few years, beautifully.
I want to like Coach, but it has the michael kors vibe now (just my personal opinion and style, no offense to people who really like michael kors stuff)…to me it’s for people who don’t have a lot of money spending more than they should on clothes or bags with a certain label that they think looks expensive and makes them look fancy…but we all know it’s just more expensive middle-of-the-road design and material that you can find at the mall. Here is hoping she brings something fresh to the brand. I find it to be stale.
Always believed this !
Wow, that’s a lot of judgment tied to someone’s choice of purse.
Yeah, label judging is a pretty old game. Unimaginative, too.
I taught she had a contract with Louis Vuitton, no disrespect but how can you go from Louis Vuitton to Coach ?
Money
I’ve been a Coach customer since college. The only non-Coach bag I am coveting is a red Chanel cross body.
CB my purse experiences in life are exactly the same! I was a Coach girl gone Kate Spade girl gone Michael Kors girl. This is the one I’m currently using:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TH0OPX2/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481641610&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=michael%2Bkors%2Bjet%2Bset&dpPl=1&dpID=51kf1bzXJ2L&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1
but I LOVE yours!
That is a really cute purse! I do need one with a crossbody strap because otherwise I get back pain due to how much stuff I carry. Took me too long to figure that out.
Yeah, I worked with a yoga mom after she had her baby, and she was constantly trying to convert my shoulder bag for this backpack, which was better for alignment. She favored this one, but I just couldn’t make the switch from purse to backpack, not even a cute leather one. It was way too 1994 for me!
https://www.sonsoftrade.com/bags/tactical-tote
I never had a designer bag in my entire life til last year when I bought two midsize Coach bags at an outlet store. I was thrilled with them. Pretty and roomy and able to hold my computer. Then someone told me the quality of an outlet store bag is inferior to that of a regular department store like Macy’s and I felt awful. They look the same on the outside. Then I realized I was being ridiculous and I love my bags anyway. Just curious though. Are outlet store bags inferior and in what way?
Not at all. There can be seconds sometimes, but outlet stuff is usually the unsold collection of 6 months or one year earlier (worked in fashion for years, ages ago)
No! They’re just older seasons that haven’t sold in department stores and are sent to outlets. But since bags are classic items there’s no need to feel they’re not in fashion, or out of date. Your bags are the Exact same as any from a department store. Don’t mind that person, they don’t know what they’re talking about- enjoy your bags!
Thank you Kezia and Silverunicorn! I do love my bags! Ironically I saw my bags at Macy’s AFTER buying mine at an outlet store! And the person who made the snide comment was actually the Macy’s sales clerk! Maybe she was being snarky because I paid half the price for my bags than what they were asking for theirs at Macy’s!
@OTHER RENEE
Take into account that a designer’s bag can be sold 10 times more than the cost of production, that sales clerk was actually jealous, methinks!
Coach outlets do sell “outlet” specific merchandise. It will say so on the label but they also sell all the older season merchandise too. A lot of the outlet stores seem to do this now which in particularly annoying as the outlet product quality is poor, especially clothing stores like Banana Republic, Gap and JCrew.
Agree. Coach and even MK have their own line of “outlet” bags. The differences are usually found in the lining material, logo design and placement, hang tags, and trim (example: inside pockets on a retail line may be leather trimmed, outlet line pockets are not). But, there’s nothing inferior or structurally wrong with the outlet bags. A few years ago, one could go to the Coach outlet stores and find quite a few retail bags on sale in the stores. Now, not so much, if at all, and I’ve stopped shopping the outlets and even the retail stores. I prefer MK nylon totes for work because of the numerous inside pockets and lighter weight, but it’s hit or miss with the durability of their straps. I sent one tote to MK for warranty repair b/c the straps frayed. It couldn’t be fixed, so they refunded me.
Not an “outlet” answer, but I can relate to the “love the bag anyway” philosophy. Years ago I was in the Peachtree mall in Atlanta and found a beautiful turquoise bag at a kiosk. It reminded me of a Marc Jacobs bag I really wanted but could not afford. I bought it ($125) and carried it until it wore out. I loved that bag and received so many compliments and people asking me where I got it. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t a brand. It was leather, beautiful and lasted for years.
Hear Hear for the Cute/well made/ Is a purse and im not rich TJ maxx/Outlets/Mall Finds… Sh*t I’ll be honest I am one of those and Also I feel like i need to carry my entire life in purse so I Go Big/strappy/Colorful and a Midsize and a clutch !! I get mine when they are super discounted in JCP and using ALL the coupons on top of that #IAmYourPeople
Outlet bags have an identification number to recognize that they are not the same quality as standard retailer and vice versa. This is not to say that occasionally bags from the real stores don’t ever trickle down to an outlet. They stock them on Wednesdays and sell out fast near where i live, even the ugly ones. I dont like the outlet bags/wallets bc they have too many logos and arent made as well.
When I read these threads I feel out of my depth. I bought my last bag in 2009…. and it was 69 euros…..
In Scotland husband bought me a Ness bag+wallet as a gift, which could have been maybe 70 pounds?
I don’t think I ever had a bag that was more expensive than 100 euros in all my life.
I’m with you. I think my most expensive purse was $45 from Target. For me, I just can’t see spending that much on a bag-I’d rather spend my money on movies, music, books.
Books are my drug 🙂
Jesus, the things you get from life because you’re pretty.
She can’t sing, she can’t act, she has a career because she’s pretty and knows how to attach herself to the right people, and she’s a designer now? Great.
+1,000,000
Cant be that bitter about her contract. Coach lost many fans with their poor quality, bread n butter,made for selling to poor people outlets. Selena can bring in consumers whether its retail or outlet. She’s the most followed person on Instagram. If you dont understand what that means, google it. Bc that’s what her paycheck is really for. Advertising for a brand that continues to become irrelevant to people under 40.
Oh, I understand all of that. I just don’t understand why she’s the most followed person on instagram. She’s pretty, but bland and talentless.
She’s not the basic white girl that makes her more relatable to many ppl. She wasnt born rich and can act, like any actress, when casted correctly. She recognizes her faults and acknowledges them. She’s not perfect and slightly vulnerable. People love that about her. Ppl talk about having “it” and she does. It’s a quality that even people with obvious talent dont sometimes have. While she struggled from kid to adulthood like so many women do, she can be successful if life if she wants to.
I feel ill. I feel ill for all the people in design colleges right now. I’m so tired of famous people tinkering with things and being rewarded with billions.
Right, I feel bad for them. But I think they still get hired to do the real designing and these celebrities get all the credits.
I do like the special collections Coach has (Snoopy, Mickey, NY themed items), but their regular items have been a hit or miss for me. I have been carrying a bag made specifically for their outlets for 3 going on 4 years now that I love, so Coach will always have a place in my heart.
I can so see some of Selena’s more rabid fans, buying purses or SLG that she hawks and/or “designs.” As for the real world, no. Time and time again we see that her insta followers does not translate into sales of her products/movies, and I think it’ll be the case here. Besides every teenage girl and their mother is into Michael Kors (and slowly Kate Spade) nowadays.
Ugh MK and KS are dreadful. Suburban mom’s be crazy!!
Coach quality started going downhill once it caught on with the younger crowd. I have some Coach bags from 25 years ago that still look new. Once I started seeing high school girls with Coach, I knew it was time to move on. The same with Dooney & Burke. I have a D&B wallet that I’ve had for over 25 years and I’m still using it. It looks a little worn, but not 25 years worn.
I moved on to Tod’s after Coach. A bit pricier, therefore less handbags. LOL I switched over to a Fossil cross body when I went on vacation over Thanksgiving and I’ve had more compliments on it. I think I’ll stick with it for a few months.
Coach has had a huge resurgence under Stuart Vevers, especially their 1941 line. I’m sure they’ve gotten a lot more customers than they’ve lost in recent years. Quality-wise, Coach went downhill years ago when it started to manufacture in China instead of the US.
I think this might be a good fit for them both. Poor Chole but nothing she wore representing them was good.
I loved Coach in high school (late 90’s early ’00) and had 2 or 3 of them I rotated for years but then switched to Dooney & Burke and now I wear Fossil. All sort of the same I guess. I go for all leather now over canvas print.
That said – my favorite bag ever was a Coach bag my go-to beach & airplane bag, a Coach Hampton Scribble Canvas weekender. Sadly a few months back after a mold in the closet incident I had to trash it, I think I had it for at least 12 years if not longer.
…and now I’m searching online and EBay has one for $129 that doesn’t look too bad….. hummmm Merry Christmas to me?
I used to love Coach but their design “update” a few seasons ago turned me cold. I really loved their classic styles and the whole attempt to be young and boho didn’t work for me.
About Selena – I think she’s a great match for them but I am confused as I thought they had just hirered Kate Moss? She’s being doing very obviously paid work for them, which seemed very odd as she’s not at all a Coach woman..