COACH brings psychedelia back to the city with their AW19 collection at New York Fashion Week. Sunlight dapples the catwalk as it shines through the high windows that line the top of the immense space. The industrial setting of the American Stock Exchange in New York City is about to take a trip back to the 60s, as creative director Stuart Vevers’ new collection takes the American fashion house on a kaleidoscopic journey. The audience sit in angular groups across the room, creating a kind of psychotropic maze for the models to walk through.
The collection features themes of opposing aesthetics, with a focus on outerwear in a myriad of silhouettes. The line between masculine and feminine is blurred as feminine floral dresses are paired with heavy, boxed shearling coats. Delicate detailed blouses feature typically masculine bolo-tie accents rather than elegant bows. Checked trouser suits with heavy brogues are worn by the female models, creating a wonderful visual tempo when appearing amongst the variant floating skirts.
Vever’s collaborated with artist Kaffe Fassett, recognised for his colourful psychedelic artwork to crate the printed designs featured on many of the garments in the collection. For example, a bomber jacket with psychoactive flower print that also includes leather fringing detailing combines the motifs expected by the American brand, but with a far-out floral twist.
A palette of muted autumnal shades are lifted by the occasional pop of bright blue and yellow, almost as if playing a trick on the eyes. A classic, weathered mahogany aviator jacket features a trim of cornflower shearling, playfully poking fun at the conventional codes and expectations of the outerwear. The fun continues as a monogrammed fur coat is closely followed by matching house slippers, as well as a scarf in the same logo-embellished fur. These looks allow the collection to let loose, causing some in the audience to double-take as if experiencing a mind-bending hallucination on the runway.
As the show closes, the upbeat music slows and psychedelic lasers zap around the space, bringing the theatrics we have come to expect from Vevers, now in his fifth year at the helm of Coach. The psychedelic civic collection is refreshingly wearable, but still innovative and mind-expanding in its fresh take on classic outerwear silhouettes.
by Lucy May McCracken