Coach New York
Coach New York
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Coach New York

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Coach New York

Coach New York, commonly known as Coach, is an American luxury fashion house headquartered in New York City specializing in handbags, luggage, and accessories, as well as ready-to-wear. Coach licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear, and Paris-based Interparfums for fragrances. Stuart Vevers has been the executive creative director since June of 2013.

It is the main subsidiary of Tapestry, Inc., formerly known as Coach, Inc.

Coach was founded in 1941, as a family-run workshop in a loft on 34th Street in Manhattan, with six leather-workers who made wallets and billfolds by hand. In 1946, Miles Cahn (1921–2017) and his wife Lillian Cahn (1923–2013) joined the company.

By 1950, Cahn had taken over the company. During the early years, Cahn noticed the distinctive properties and qualities of the leather used to make baseball gloves. With wear and use, the leather in a glove became softer and suppler. Attempting to mimic this process, Cahn developed a process to make the leather stronger, softer, and more flexible. Since the leather absorbed dye very well, this process also created a richer, deeper color.

Soon after Cahn developed this new process, Lillian Cahn suggested to Miles that the company supplement the factory's men's accessories business by adding women's leather handbags. The "sturdy cowhide bags were an immediate hit." Miles and Lillian Cahn bought the company through a leveraged buyout in 1961.

In 1961, Cahn hired Bonnie Cashin, a sportswear pioneer, to design handbags for Coach. Cashin "revolutionized the product's design," working as a creative head for Coach from 1962 through 1974. Cashin instituted the inclusion of side pockets, coin purses, and brighter colors (as opposed to the usual hues of browns and tans) in the products. Cashin designed matching shoes, pens, key fobs, and eyewear, and added hardware to both her clothes and accessories–particularly the silver toggle that became the Coach hallmark–declaring that she had been inspired by a memory of quickly fastening the top on her convertible sports car.

In 1979, Lewis Frankfort joined the company as vice-president of business development. During this time, Coach was making $6 million in sales, and products were being distributed through the domestic wholesale channel, primarily in the northeastern United States. Mr. Rose, then executive VP of sales, mentored Frankfort, before retiring from his position in the company in 1995.

In 1981 the company opened its first directly operated retail location on Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

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