Coach 1941 Fall 2017 - Runway Review

Oh, how time flies. It’s hard to believe Stuart Vevers, for Fall 2017, showed his 15th collection for Coach 1941. And yet it all came full circle—right back to his starting place with shearling.

Inspired by Terrence Malick films and the Great Plains, Vevers showcased his collection on a set replete with a broken-down prairie house frame with tumbleweeds scattered about. This go-around, however, he coupled it with Eighties hip-hop, inspired by the book “Back in the Day.” With the Smashing Pumpkins’s “1979” playing, and a voiceover from “Badlands” spliced in, Vevers’ prairie-hip-hop combo took on a grunge feel.

Without a doubt, outerwear remains the strongest component of the Coach ready-to-wear brand. Shearlings were distressed with raw edges and charming floral and songbird appliques all over—as extravagantly witnessed via a full-length topper coat dyed several shades of brown. Quintessential outerwear items like the bomber and parka were rendered in cooly oversized proportions (translation: gargantuan) in all-over florals. Accessorizing it all were handbags that looked to the Bonnie Cashin era, with quirky novelty motifs using the frame bag as reference.