Coach's Spring Biker Gang Picks Elvis As Mascot

With 'Stranger Things' stars Winona Ryder and Millie Bobby Brown sitting front row, the brand showed a sexier, tougher side this season.

“It’s a little overwhelming,” confessed a shaky Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things’ 12-year-old breakout star, to co-star Winona Ryder while being shielded from the onslaught of cameras snapping the front row at Coach’s Tuesday afternoon show. Having only been in the limelight since the Netflix series debuted earlier this summer, the young actress appeared a tad flustered by the heaping mass of reporters and photographers which descended upon Chloe Grace Moretz (current face of the Coach brand), Emma Roberts and Brown.

Ryder — who has been through her own fair share of negative experiences with the press — pulled Brown into an embrace, stooping down to her eye level (which wasn’t far below the petite actress’ own) to impart her wisdom on dealing with the side effects of fame.



STRANGER THINGS: Winona Ryder and Millie Bobby Brown attend Coach's spring 2017 show. (Photo: Getty Images)

While the Stranger Things stars took a moment out of range of the cameras, Brown’s older, more seasoned seat mates — Moretz and Roberts — chatted eagerly with reporters about their style, fashion week and the rusty, massive Chevy sculpture plopped squarely in the middle of the runway.

#emptyrunway #coachspring2017 A photo posted by Stuart Vevers (@stuartvevers) on Sep 13, 2016 at 12:30pm PDT

The installation — featuring vintage cars stacked three high — set the mood for Coach’s rebellious, Santa Fe-via-Route 66-inspired collection. Whereas the fall collection interpreted classic prep-school Americana through the brand’s leather-heavy, tailored lens, this season, creative director Stuart Vevers tapped another period of American culture (er, counter-culture) as a source of inspiration for spring: the Beatniks and bikers.



ELVIS, BABY: Looks from Coach's spring 2017 show. (Photos: Getty Images)

The designer reimagined Coach’s signature elements (leather, ditsy floral prints, prairie dresses, structured jackets and metal hardware) with angst in mind, giving them a rougher, sexier edge. The chiffon floral print dresses were nearly translucent, revealing silk short shorts underneath. Boxy, oversized leather jackets featured studded fringe detail and were emblazoned with Coach’s own biker gang name: the 41ers.

Vevers even introduced Coach’s answer to the tour merch graphic tee a la Justin Bieber (which was spotted on Jeremy Scott earlier this week) by screen-printing t-shirts bearing Elvis’ visage as a tribute to America’s first true rock star heartthrob.



TOUGHEN-UP: Looks from Coach's spring 2017 show. (Photos: Getty Images)

The accessories — Coach’s bread and butter — are sure to become hot ticket items for street style stars, especially the studded platform creepers and loafers. In terms of handbags, Vevers kept to the classic shapes, only accentuating them with fringe and stud hardware.

Over the past few years, Vevers’ designs (as well as a few savvy business moves, including shuttering outlet stores and holding fewer sales) have contributed to a slow-yet-steady turnaround for Coach, making it once again a desirable luxury brand. This season was no different, with Vevers managing to seamlessly fuse a Santa Fe aesthetic with Beatnik counterculture in way that still felt New York City-cool. Not bad, for a Brit.