If you’re in the vicinity of Greenbelt 5 this month of May, you can’t miss the giant, honey-colored pop-up in the shape of a Coach Tabby at the Fashion Center. Within this larger-than-life bag are shelves displaying the spring 2025 collection of Coach, an iconic American fashion house founded eight decades ago. This brand is a symbol of pure Americana, and particularly of New York where it was started by a group of leather artisans working in a loft. The name refers to the horse-driven coaches that traveled down the cobblestone streets of this city in an earlier time.
The sturdy, hardworking coach became the symbol for a company that found global success on the principle of making high-quality, well-crafted leather goods accessible. Look closely at the Coach “C” logo of the bag’s metal hardware and you’ll see it’s actually a horseshoe. Exploration, adventure and embarking on new dreams are the very foundation of the American spirit.
Back in 1941, a small group of artisans with a love for leather began creating wallets and other men’s accessories. The initial group was joined and later bought out by Lillian and Miles Cahn, experts in leather manufacturing. What brought them success was Mile’s idea to use the same kind of buttery and supple leather that was used for baseball mitts. This led to the development of Coach’s iconic glove tanned leather, or leather that has been tanned for the production of baseball gloves. When Lillian decided to use the leather for women’s bags, the Coach line was born.
In 1962, fashion designer Bonnie Cashin was brought in to become Coach’s first designer. Her whimsical ideas included combining leather with industrial hardware and other materials like wool and jersey. She designed classic shapes with bright colors like red, pink and green. Her vintage pieces inspired the Tabby which is so popular today.
Since Coach’s price points are within reach, it has remained relevant and is popular with younger generations. The current creative director, Stuart Vevers, pays tribute to New York with bags, shoes and ready-to-wear that captures the spirit of downtown, hipster New York that young shoppers love. Its New York Fashion Week runway shows are packed with A-listers and held at prestigious venues like the New York Library, Pier 76 or the Park Avenue Armory.
The Tabby is a bag worn by a number of celebrities like Selena Gomez, Jennifer Lopez and Paris Hilton, and has a classic yet modern silhouette. Its versatility allows it to be worn as a shoulder or cross-body bag. Many variations of this Tabby bag have been released, including a softer Pillow Tabby, and today, you can find the Tabby in different sizes and colors, with quilted denim, shearling (literally what you shear from the sheep), tie-dye prints and all sorts of cute designs to make it appealing to Gen Z.
At the launch of the Coach Tabby Pop Up, Nikki Huang of Stores Specialists Inc. said, “What I personally love about Coach is the way that it’s both accessible and very luxurious. I’m super excited about the revamp that Coach has been going through. Even though we are launching the Tabbies, which are amazing — you can see all the different colors and materials that they’ve come out in — my personal favorite is the Brooklyn bag. It’s an amazing hobo tote that my sister and I have in different sizes. And it’s awesome to see how Coach is a brand that focuses on luxury and craftsmanship but at the same time, they really think about utility and that’s what I really enjoy about the brand.”
Asked what she would recommend to someone buying her first Coach, Nikki replied, “Definitely the Tabby. It can go from day to night, casual to formal. It’s a great first bag.”
At the Coach Tabby pop-up, you can try on three particular variants: the Chain Tabby, designed in a way that the chains don’t easily slip off your shoulder; the Quilted Tabby with the classic quilting which accentuates the look of the leather; and the quirky Twisted Tabby that literally looks like someone playfully twisted the design. There is also a style that looks like it was playfully doodled over. This epitomizes Coach’s Courage to Be Real campaign, inspiring young people to explore themselves with confidence.
There is a palette of heritage colors like honey, chalk, and black, plus new colors like bluebell, deep blue and fuchsia. A co-creation bar in the middle of the pop-up allows customers to give their bags and small leather goods their own stamp of individuality with monograms and bag charms.
Register as a member and get a yummy, Tabby-shaped popsicle created by Pinkerton in mango, strawberry, ube and chocolate. The Coach Tabby Shop pop-up at Greenbelt 5 runs until May 31 and is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.