Each global brand has its own story to tell and that of New York-based heritage brand Coach is more interesting after over 75 years in business.

Long before joining the leadership team in 2006, the CEO of New York-based heritage brand Coach, Victor Luis, had built his own narrative about the brand.

He bought a Coach oxblood-colored backpack for his wife in a Coach store in Ginza, Tokyo, in 1991. His wife loved the traditional glove-tanned leather material, the quality and the comfort while the brand was not so exclusively priced.

Several years later, he bought her another backpack, in navy this time, as a birthday present.

“I have a Coach wallet I’ve been using now for 11 years. I bought it the first month I joined Coach and I love the wallet,” he told The Jakarta Post at Coach’s flagship store in Grand Indonesia, Central Jakarta.

Coach recently acquired rival brand Kate Spade & Company in a US$2.4 billion deal which is part of its long-term strategy to make the company bigger than merely Coach products, to move from a traditional leather-product manufacturer and wholesaler when it started in 1941 into a multi-brand fashion house.

It is safe to say that Coach is an anomaly in the luxury sector as it has seen gradual growth in sales the past three years, at a time when the global economic slowdown has caused luxury sales to dive.

Luis, who was appointed by the board to his current post in 2014, said a dramatic change to both the products and the way they were presented as well as the company were important moves he had to make to stand out in a crowd of competitors.

“You can only exist for 75 years if you have innovation. Consumers are not living the same way as 75 years ago, they have different tastes and what they expect from fashion has changed,” said Luis, who was making his first visit to Jakarta a few weeks before the acquisition.

But at the same time, he said there were things subject for change and there were also things to protect and to keep.

“You need to have something that remains constant that makes the DNA of the brand. In the case of Coach it is the quality, craftsmanship, the idea of the material, which is glove-tanned leather, and its value as a New York brand that is approachable, not so much exclusivity.”

Coach, popular for its handbags, recruited new executive creative director Stuart Vevers to repeat his previous personal success in re-branding Mulberry and Spanish leather house Loewe.

The fashion designer invigorated the classic Coach products with his edgy design, introducing patches of space rockets and a T-rex named Rexy the Coach Dino on handbags, outerwear, ready-to-wear and footwear for both men and women, which was launched on a runway — the first in 73 years — that took the fashion-conscious and critics by surprise and in return received a high appraisal.

For this fall collection, which will be available in June, Coach will release a limited-edition capsule collection — Coach Space — embellished with playful elements of stars, planets, NASA-inspired logos, more rockets and Rexy in astronaut helmet and jetpack, for explorers and fearless travelers.

If the 2015 Coach collection reintroduced the iconic dinky bag that came from its 1940s collection and the varsity jacket of the 1960s, this time it is the turn for the Dylan bag, an updated take on flight bags from the 1970s and the League backpack, a throwback to 1980s school bags.

“The collection is very nostalgic. There’s something about the time of the Space Program that just gives this feeling of possibility. The space references, rockets and planets are symbolic of a moment of ultimate American optimism and togetherness,” Vevers said in a statement.

Luis said the consumers appreciated the difference in the new Coach designs that allowed a broader spectrum in fashion products and, of course, target market.

“First and foremost is Stuart’s attention to detail quality. Stuart made it more modern, younger and approachable. It is vital to bring your current customers on the journey while bringing new younger customers into the brand as well.”

EVOLUTION

The product evolution is only a part of the grand strategy in transforming the heritage brand into a fashion house with global penetration.

Two key elements in the decision to transform the brand, said Luis, were recognizing the fact there was a lot more competition. “And we need to differentiate Coach once again, no matter what. Historically, Coach always refreshes and brings a new creative vision so that we can surprise and delight consumers once again.”

While injecting more fashion images and utility into the products, from the marketing perspective, it was also the first time for the company to be able to give a head-to-toe look at Coach’s image to give consumers a full understanding about the brand.

The whole presentation of the products was also translated in its store concept called “Modern Luxury”, which offers an “inclusive, accessible luxury” the New York way by replacing the white storefront and the presentation table inside, which had become a reference for young competitors in the United States.

This new creative vision gave the confidence for Coach to expand further in Asia including China, Japan and, recently India, besides Southeast Asian countries.

“We are the leading US brand in Asia,” said Luis, adding that the company was very excited about the opportunities in Indonesia.

With a total of eight stores in Jakarta and another one in Bali, achieving 15 percent growth in the premium handbags and accessories market, according to Luis, is still a good pace.

Luis said the figure remained small compared to some other markets, but the opportunity was very long term, with the Indonesian market still very much a developing market but one that is growing.

“What we see now in Indonesia is that the infrastructure that allows luxury retailers to develop and flourish is catching up, especially and mostly the malls.”

Luis cited Japan as an example of a developed market where Coach was currently the number two brand in that country of around 120 million people.

“We have a business in Japan of between $550 and 600 million dollars and that is a country with a population half of Indonesia’s. There is no reason why in 10 to 20 years Indonesia cannot be a more important market for us. The consumers are more educated, they know quality and are very fashion engaged. So that goes well for us in the long term.”

To create Coach brand-awareness across the globe, the company is committed to engaging consumers in its “story” — the history and heritage of craftsmanship as well as its authentic journey as a fashion brand — in a 360-degree approach; physically and digitally. “What’s important is the consumer’s experience with the brand, not only the product,” said Luis. “The key objective is how to make an emotional connection with our consumer.”

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