THE CO-AUTHORED BRAND

Coach continues to appeal to Gen Z with two new initiatives. First up is &Coach, a new content series created with Gen Z communities, creators and cultural figures including Charli xcx, activist Malala Yousafzai, WNBA star Paige Bueckers, NASCAR driver Toni Breidinger, singer PinkPantheress, actor Avantika and South Korean girl group KiiiKiii. The content will be delivered on dedicated TikTok and Instagram accounts, with new ambassadors and community participation options to be added. It expands on themes like self-expression and identity that were part of Coach’s Spring 2026 book-focused Explore Your Story campaign, extending them into new cultural spaces.

Last – and by no means least – this week saw Coach announce a global cultural partnership with Spotify that will focus on experiential marketing activations for Gen Z, both on-platform and IRL. When viewed together, these activations show that Coach is taking a more holistic approach to connecting with Gen Z across culture, music, sport and activism.

  OUR TAKE

The luxury industry spent the last decade chasing Gen Z with passion-point strategies. While the logic was sound — Gen Z are passionate, community-oriented and typically spend where their interests live — it assumed those interests stay separate. And they don’t! According to Mastercard’s 2026 Next Growth Generation report, 65% of global Gen Z think of themselves as creators building their own personal brand, assembling an identity from music, sport, activism, fashion and more at once. Showing up in one place and hoping for a halo effect is no longer enough.

The brands that have worked this out are building around the spaces where identity actually forms. Luxury’s move into literary culture is one example: Miu Miu’s literary club and Jil Sander’s Reference Library at Milan Design Week show that, for many luxury brands, cultural credibility is the new currency. But most of these initiatives tap experts and institutions for authority, and the consumer mostly remains passive, attending and absorbing but not always contributing or building. Coach is trying something more participatory and, given that the brand spent much of the 2010s in the bargain bin, it had good reason to try something different. 

Coach CMO Joon Silverstein is a former cultural anthropologist who still visits the homes of women aged 18-30 with the goal of understanding who they’re trying to become. “A lot of brands mistake data for real insight,” she told the Wall Street Journal earlier this year. “You don’t learn about people or culture by reading research reports or by studying them afar.”

That thinking helped to shape Explore Your Story which included book bag charms developed by Penguin Random House and featured titles chosen by Gen Z customers. &Coach applies the same logic more broadly: Charli and co. aren’t there to lend cultural credibility. They represent the non-categorical way younger consumers build identity. The Spotify partnership builds on the same idea: music isn’t the passion point, connection is.

Coach sales hit US$2.14 billion in Q2 2026 (up 25% YoY) and the brand continues to gain traction with younger consumers (Gen Z represented roughly one-third of new consumers globally during the quarter). By 2030, Gen Z is projected to represent 25% of global luxury spending, up from 4% before the pandemic. As Silverstein explained at the Spotify launch, the brands that win won’t just be the ones that reach people; they’re the ones that bring people together.

Other brands are testing the same shift. In China, Salomon invited emerging designers to reinterpret its archive, then put the results to a public vote at its Shanghai concept store, with the winner getting a long-term collaboration. The archive remains Salomon’s, but consumers get a say in what gets made from it. See also the Vaseline Originals line that turned viral beauty hacks — many developed by early content creators who never got credit — into commercially available products. 

What Coach, Salomon and Vaseline have in common is a willingness to make the brand less of a finished story and more of a world consumers can build inside. For Coach, that means moving across multiple passion points and betting that Gen Z consumers want brands to make room for every part of their identity. For a brand without much signature aesthetic to protect, that may be an advantage. What does that mean for brands still betting on a single story?

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“THAT’S ALL.”

The Devil Wears Prada 2 opens this week and promises all the fan-favorites of the 2006 blockbuster and more—more Miranda-isms, more New York City, and definitely more fashion. Ahead of the movie opening, brand collaborations have multiplied, from Samsung mobile phones to L’Oreal Paris makeup. One would expect all these brands’ ads to play in the movie theater right before the lights dim, but the curious thing is—these brands might not even be in the movie.

OUR TAKE

Brands using movies to create cultural cache isn’t new but it is clear that brand marketing in movies has evolved from product placements to become an extended form of content and engagement. The latest slate of brand and movie marketing don’t just feature actors holding up products, but hero storytelling and feel like bite-sized extensions of the movie brought IRL. 2023’s Barbie broke the floodgates for this, with experiences such as AirBnB’s bookable Barbie’s Dreamhouse placing consumers right in the middle of the story.

Much of the more interesting marketing content tied to The Devil Wears Prada 2 goes beyond just product placement within the movie. Brands are now accessing more creative avenues to convey their message and integrate in people’s lives. Immersive storytelling and IYKYK nods to deep cuts can create stand-alone featurettes and open up other enticing parts of the world of the movie.

For behind-the-scenes footage of Runway magazine, look at the campaign from beauty brand Lancôme where actors Pauline Chalamet and Caleb Hearon reprise their movie roles to tackle a classic ‘impossible’ Miranda task. Coca-Cola brand Smartwater’s mini-game makes players search for the right shade of blue—a throwback to Miranda’s cerulean monologue in the first movie. Starbucks, which does physically appear in both movies, launched a real-life secret menu with the characters’ go-to orders and even brought back actor Adrian Grenier where he meta-comments on his hated character, Nate.

To partner with movies, brands now don’t have to be limited to the actual run-time of the movie, but can create these “pocket universes” that still feel true to the story and give audiences space within the world.

One example is not even a promotion for a movie, but accesses the legacy and shared moments of a decades-long cinematic collaboration between two veteran actors. To promote the Shogun Burger, McDonald’s Hong Kong created an entire music video with home-grown artists Louis Koo and Jessica Hsuan, channeling scenes from the multiple movies where they’ve played love interests. The campaign also included an Instagram Live session with the artists and collective trading cards riffing on their romantic scenes from movies.

At a time when demand for IRL experiences is heightened and cultural status comes from being in-the-know, brands have a real opportunity to leverage movies for their iconic scenes, characters or IYKYK moments to build their own cultural capital within the movie hype cycle. This is especially so for films with a rich history (easy for sequels, remakes and  franchises, which seem to be the norm in Hollywood today) where core fans are eager for more content and experiences to get closer to the movie-world, and it doesn’t hurt that cinema attendance is on the rise with Gen Zs, especially in APAC.

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TOUCH GRASS

Gen Z grew up online, but in 2025, many sought experiences the algorithm couldn’t deliver. While BookTok continued to drive reading trends, digital recommendations fueled distinctly offline pursuits: book club retreats and book club crafts (up 265% and 558% on Pinterest respectively).  Analog bags and junk journaling clubs are on the rise in the US, alongside once-fossilized hobbies like crochet and zine-making. The trend is playing out across SEA too, with over half of Filipino Gen Z actively trying digital detoxes and Singapore Gen Z four times more likely than the global average to search for ‘pen pals’.

OUR TAKE 

The algorithm can recommend a book, but it can’t replicate the book club. As concerns about the impact of AI on childhood and cognition intensify, the pull towards analog is only likely to grow.

Digital platforms are driving demand for offline experiences. Will you be the brand that actually creates them?

A FANTASY ROMANCE

Over the last 12 months, romance on women’s terms has taken center stage. Remember the cultural obsession with Conrad Fisher from The Summer I Turned Pretty? See also the growth of AI boyfriend apps and otome games — interactive romance narratives where players pursue fictional love interests — which won hearts and wallets in SEA. The momentum shows no sign of slowing: Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights lands on Valentine’s Day 2026, marketed with the tagline ‘come undone’ and a Charli XCX soundtrack.

OUR TAKE 

Escapism? Sure. But when women invest at this scale, they’re not rejecting romance – they’re showing you what it’s been missing. No ghosting, no situationships, guaranteed emotional payoff. Fictional romance delivers what modern dating often doesn’t…

Does your brand or industry treat female desire like an afterthought? How is that changing?

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CAN I MEME THIS?

Is it a meme in and of itself to talk about the current day AI sloppification of memes? To long for when actual human beings would apply finishing touches to the thinking man’s meme? This is one of the questions behind the Great Meme Reset, a call to action that snowballed on TikTok for memes to harken back to our shared humanity, come 1 January 2026. Memes used to serve more as ciphers, with layers of meaning, allusion and backstory to be unpacked. Nowadays, meme-craft can be turned over to AI meme generators that go heavy on throwaway, meaningless imagery to elicit quick bursts of emotion that are then forgotten.

The backlash against pump-and-dump content comes and goes, but it’s clear that people want to feel something again – as well as see the actual human-made qualities of what’s being consumed. This is paramount for story-telling in the entertainment industry, but also for brands that don’t want their customer outreach to get lost in noise. Brand-building is akin to story-telling, and customers want more than just the reductive and sensational.

OUR TAKE

There have never been more ways for brands to engage with customers, but it still feels like everyone is competing for tiny slices of attention pie. Each customer touchpoint becomes a permutation of screens – someone is watching a program on streaming while playing a mobile game and also browsing through TikTok, Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts. There are industry murmurs that streaming executives wonder if content needs to be dumbed down, to outslop the slop. Does this spell the end of prestige TV? Is this why people are nostalgic for prestige memes?

Microdramas can get the short end of the stick, especially when compared to the “serious business” of prestige TV and auteurs. The dramatic plot twists and AI enthusiasm in the visual effects are easy to dismiss. It would be myopic though to forget about why people are drawn to this content  – the emotional beats of the characters and storylines coupled with accessible formats equal a thriving fandom. We’ve covered this before in a previous edition of CultureWire! Microdramas speak to consumers and the love for stories, and shouldn’t all be painted with the same brush.

At the end of the day, people will always be drawn to impactful story-telling. This especially pertains to the reviled advertisement format. Brands are experimenting with cinematic story-telling and movie-making tools to create ads that are short films. Watching ads in theaters before the actual movie starts used to be fun, until the ads got too long. But what if it were a 33-minute story with Hollywood talent and an idiosyncratic director? It no longer feels like just product placement, but a story that feels purposeful and makes it fun to engage with the brand. Thus the ad playbook continues to evolve, as these formats aren’t a magic bullet and won’t guarantee audience engagement. Who knows, movie-rating service Rotten Tomatoes may end up passing judgement on these ads.

Consumers might be as distracted as ever, but the yearning to feel something and feel spoken to remains. Brands have a plethora of tools (this includes AI!) at their disposal – what are you going to say next about your brand?

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 SHOW & SELL

Southeast Asia’s e-commerce market is projected to hit $186 billion by 2025, and the current market leader Shopee just made a play to dominate the field even further.

By being the first brand to join Meta’s newest project, Facebook Affiliate Partnerships, they’re allowing creators to integrate their Shopee products on their Facebook Live, complete with a dashboard to manage everything from product curation to payment. Currently piloting in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, it’s a bet that SEA’s livestream commerce market is just getting started.

OUR TAKE

This partnership arrives amid discussions about the future of the creator economy: can human influencers extend their reach through AI avatars? Can creators license their likeness? Interesting yes, but the more immediate issue for brands is how people actually buy. The online purchase journey isn’t linear anymore, it’s a combination of discovery, emotion, and repeated touchpoints shaped by creators and other customers — from traditional influencers (KOLs) to everyday consumers sharing opinions (KOCs) to the new breed of sellers going live from their bedrooms (KOSs)

Per Shopee data, in 2024, affiliates generated over 100 million pieces of Shopee Live and Shopee Video content (a threefold increase from 2023). Creator content now underpins everyday e-commerce, but it’s not all perceived as equal. In SEA, trust in mega-influencers (creators with 1M+ followers) is declining faster than trust in nano and micro influencers, highlighting the importance of authenticity. In parallel, 79% of SEA social media users are more likely to engage with creator content that ‘feels like a story rather than an ad’, and product links drive 31% of purchases, more than any other format. Taken together, the signal is clear: storytelling-led posts with soft-sell shopping cues from smaller creators are winning.

The Shopee x Meta tie-up will allow more Key Opinion Sellers — who are primarily focused on livestreams and short videos — to join the creator economy, attracted by the chance to boost their income. As they do, the volume of UGC developed by creators for brands will continue to grow, further accelerating the push towards invisible selling. Of course, that’s not just happening on Shopee. It’s also happening on TikTok Shop and Lazada.

For brands, UGC from smaller creators isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s essential. WARC’s Influencer Marketing Benchmark 2025 revealed that creator-led campaigns deliver 3.5x higher engagement rates than traditional paid media across Southeast Asia, while non-professional content investment is set to overtake institutional by 2026.

Consider what’s already happening. In Indonesia, over three-quarters (76%) of consumers buy from creator recommendations, particularly in fashion and beauty. Jakarta’s migration is slowing, partly because people can now earn from anywhere. A bedroom in Bandung is now as valuable as an office in the capital. When it comes to social shopping, the region has gone beyond proof-of-concept and entered the infrastructure-building phase. For local brands, this levels the playing field: you don’t need a marquee budget or celebrity endorsement when thousands of micro-creators can bring your product into daily life. The winners won’t be those who resist this shift toward invisible selling, but those who recognize that in SEA, commerce has always been social — but it’s now more scalable than ever.

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 STAYING ALIVE

“Create epic s–t.” This is Nike’s new battle cry and employee mandate, courtesy of Phil McCartney, the sportswear giant’s new Chief Innovation, Design, and Product Officer.

In the face of revenue decline, share price obliteration, and accusations of an innovation drought, Nike has taken former Adidas partner Ye’s (formerly known as Kanye West) hit song “Stronger” to heart: “Harder, better, faster, stronger.” This includes a C-suite overhaul and internal reshuffling of more than 8,000 employees, product launches brought forward by 12 months, moonshot projects (remember when tech companies did those?), and robotics-forward footwear like Project Amplify.

OUR TAKE

In the attention economy, it’s more complicated than ever for brands to stay relevant and compete for thinning wallets. Nike now has to fend off classic rival Adidas (whose strategy is to be even “more American” than Nike) alongside rising challengers like On and Hoka.

With new product innovation, brands must consider relevance to their target demographics. In the age of woke keyboard warriors and pilates princesses, we’re seeing a strategic shift as brands aim squarely at Gen Z and their robust, multi-hypenate lifestyles. Starbucks, for example, now lets customers add protein to almost any beverage, tapping into health and wellness trends. Gym brand Amino has rebranded itself as a “super-boutique,” combining classes, retail, F&B, and coworking spaces to give Gen Z a new kind of hybrid experience, as every location is now a destination and a lifestyle.

Marketing playbooks continue to evolve as brands turn to culture in search of the consumer sweet spot. Hobbies once seen as niche—like writing and collecting—now command scale and dollars. In China, bubble tea brand Mixue harnessed the power of juicy plotlines by printing fanfiction about its mascot, Snow King, on customer receipts. Other beverage brands are tapping into microdrama tropes like “CEO romances” or inviting fans to write their own endings through social media activations.

Experimentation with IP and collaborations has become a marketing staple, with cross-cultural partnerships helping brands amplify their message and move fast. South Korean entertainment giant HYBE recently partnered with the Los Angeles Football Club (new home of South Korean soccer star Son Heung-min), starting with sponsorship of the Audi 2025 Major League Soccer Cup Playoff and K-pop activations during games.

From sports to arts, brands are also getting their feet wet in controversial cultural moments that shape public opinion. One great example is the Louvre robbery, which dominated the public consciousness—sparking pro-heist sentiment and appreciation for the well-dressed “detectives” on the scene (who, caveat, were probably neither detectives nor AI-generated). The company behind the freight lift allegedly used by the thieves launched a tongue-in-cheek campaign in response, which drew mixed reactions. Netflix subtly joined the conversation, heroing heist-related content and quietly tweaking its algorithm to push anime like Lupin and Detective Conan all over your homepage.

And since everyone now has fine jewelry on their minds, when better for Tiffany & Co. to collaborate with Netflix on Frankenstein? The partnership includes a reskin of Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue flagship store and a London exhibit dedicated to the lore and craftsmanship behind both the jewelry and the original novel.

With this growing appetite for cultural experiences, brands are seeking out new touchpoints and moments to connect with shoppers. Whether you’re a legacy brand or new to the game, you need to be firmly embedded in culture to tell your story.

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CROCHET COMMUNITY

DIY creators are gaining traction with Gen Z eyeballs. Once fossilized hobbies such as crochet and scrapbooking are now celebrated as means of self-expression and sustainability. Crafts can build community, via knitting clubs and zine workshops – yes, zines are back!

OUR TAKE

Brands have noticed and now incorporate this enthusiasm in their strategies: from product collaborations with creators to craft-led at-retail experiences. In the war for attention and wallets, it can be tempting to trendjack crafts as a silver bullet to gain traction with new generations of consumers. Luxury especially is rethinking playbooks, as previously safe bet markets such as Japan and China face economic headwinds.

Luxury continues to grapple with Gen Zs, who demand authentic storytelling and articulation of value-for-money. Consumers are savvier than ever about the building blocks of craftsmanship, with popular Youtube channels dedicated to dissecting (literally) luxury handbags.

Southeast Asia as a luxury market is also evolving. Homegrown brands are gaining prominence, to showcase cultural identity and pride and not just be one of the masses with the same monogrammed product. Those handbags, instantly recognizable when carried by politicians and people in power, are now the topic of scrutiny and public backlash in the Philippines and Indonesia. Young people on social media question and protest these examples of extravagance by the elite, with allegations of corruption and cronyism.

This does not mean that Southeast Asian consumers are rejecting brands and labels. Luxury is still sought after, as emotional resonance is more important than ever. Asian players are now shooting their shot, from South Korean and Indonesian leather bags to Chinese fragrances. Regardless of where your brand is from, consumers want a deeply personal experience across all touchpoints.

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 PHANTOM FANDOM

This November, virtual idol Hatsune Miku will make her Singapore debut as part of an Asia-wide tour that will also stop in Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and Kuala Lumpur. The Miku Expo will be accompanied by offshoot events in Singapore and Seoul, bringing together musicians and DJs from across the community. Next year, she’ll partner with Pokémon for a crossover event in Tokyo.

Hatsune Miku might be the OG virtual idol, but she’s not the only one making waves. After selling over 1 million physical copies of their new album and becoming the most-streamed artist on Melon, virtual boyband PLAVE are also on tour (note: while Hatsune Miku is a fully virtual character powered by voice synthesis technology, PLAVE members are real performers whose identities are hidden behind digital avatars).

OUR TAKE

The Virtual YouTuber (Vtuber) economy is exploding – surpassing 500 million hours watched in Q1 2025, with Hatsune Miku videos hitting an all-time high in 2024. SEA in particular has a long history of forming fandoms around non-human characters, with characters like Hello Kitty and Monchhichi showing enduring appeal. Interest in the latter has increased following the recent success of Labubu.

In a world where human connection increasingly disappoints, mascots are consistent. So are virtual idols and AI companions – and they’re almost always available and scandal-free (PLAVE members probably aren’t going to get into a bar fight). Unlike human celebrities and influencers, characters and virtual performers offer fandom without fallout. This is parasocial connection without parasocial exhaustion.

For all the talk of digital escapism, SEA’s character economy has many physical elements. Think Labubu queues, KFC x Butterbear ‘meet & eat’ events and partnerships with Zara, Moo Deng mall takeovers… the list goes on. Fans don’t just follow these characters online, they show up for them IRL. And this helps to explain why virtual idols like Hatsune Miku are touring as well as streaming.

Here’s the thing: fifteen years ago, admitting you loved anime or virtual idols would have marked you as fringe. Today? The fringe has become the majority. Anime fans, gamers, VTuber audiences – AKA the ‘outsider kids’ – aren’t hiding in forums anymore. They’re setting the cultural agenda. Online communities didn’t just normalize niche interests; they revealed that these interests were never actually niche. They were just waiting for permission to go mainstream. Now when Hatsune Miku announces a tour or Butterbear releases merch, it’s not subculture – it’s the culture. The tastemaking pyramid is now inverted. Forget a few cool kids telling everyone what to like. Now, communities collectively decide what matters.

Two things to consider. First, Labubu fatigue is real, proving characters can overstay their welcome. Second, in China, Gen Z are turning themselves (or their pets) into collectible characters called ‘guzi’. Forget collecting characters – it’s now possible to become one. From worshipping idols to building virtual ones to becoming merch – the circle is complete. When everyone can become their own limited edition figurine, what competitive advantage remains for traditional mascots and virtual idols?

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LOW-RISE, HIGH RETURNS

Generating 20 million views in the first three days of launch, Gap’s Better in Denim campaign stars global girl group Katseye. It shows the six members dancing to the 2003 hit Milkshake from Kelis, while showcasing the brand’s low-rise denim (sorry Millennials, Gen Z is loving the low-rise).

On an earnings call, Gap Inc. CEO Richard Dickson said that early reads on the campaign indicate ‘this is [within] striking range of probably being one of the most iconic brand campaigns that we’ve done’. While the spot isn’t a major departure from previous campaigns (which feature Daft Punk and Juliette Lewis and Madonna and Missy Elliott among others), it’s creating significant cultural buzz around the brand.

OUR TAKE

In the last few weeks, American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney Great Jeans campaign divided audiences, Swatch sparked racism accusations in China and Sanex was banned in the UK for suggesting Black skin is ‘problematic.’ For these brands, any attention is good attention. But Gap’s success shows that genuine cultural relevance can trump controversy.

And cultural relevance is something that Katseye has in abundance. The group – who represent everywhere from the Philippines to Ghana, Venezuela to Korea – embody diversity. Katseye’s Lara (who has Tamil-Sri Lankan heritage) responded to a viral post commenting on the importance and normalization of representation, saying that ‘It’s my #1 MISSION to make sure brown girls growing up and the entire south Asian community feels uplifted and powerful and confident’.

The campaign was always going to appeal to EYEKONs who’ve been invested since Pop Star Academy. But idol endorsement doesn’t automatically ensure a brand will appeal to the fandom. Fans are getting vocal and pushing back against brand partnerships, particularly when brands don’t align with broader values. When BTS’ V revealed he was Coca-Cola Korea’s latest brand ambassador, some highlighted the beverage giant’s inclusion in the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions list – a movement calling for the boycott of companies involved in the violation of Palestinian rights. As fandom loyalty evolves to include values-checking, brands must prove they deserve the co-sign.

Finally, there’s the nostalgia factor. We’ve been tracking nostalgia’s resurgence for a while, but as the world becomes more chaotic, the yearning for a simpler time grows more urgent. From the Kelis track to the low-rise jeans and styling, Better in Denim is Y2K coded. But Gap didn’t just throw on rose-tinted glasses – pairing Y2K aesthetics with Katseye, a group that represents the future of global pop, makes ‘now’ feel as good as ‘then’.

Here’s a question for you to ponder: when everyone’s chasing viral controversy, what does genuine cultural relevance look like for your brand?

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A REVIVAL BLUEPRINT

The Coach revival continues. Last week, parent company Tapestry revealed that revenues rose 5% YoY to US$7 B in fiscal 2025, beating both company outlook and analyst expectations. Coach led the charge with 13% growth, driven by Gen Z and Millennial shoppers who represent 60% of new North American customers.

We first explored Coach’s Gen Z strategy in 2023. Now let’s see how they’re turning those tactics into consistent growth – and what might disrupt the comeback

OUR TAKE

Community building through physical spaces: While Ralph Lauren and Burberry pioneered the in-store cafe model, Coach Coffee Shops could be a branded experience that truly appeals to Gen Z consumers who increasingly seek third spaces for daytime socializing.

Coach CEO Todd Kahn told Business of Fashion “This is not a vanity project. It’s not just a marketing initiative; it’s a commercial idea.” All three existing coffee shops – one in Jakarta, two in the US – are profitable. While Ralph’s Coffee attracts tourists and brand fans, Coach’s locations in Jakarta, the US, and now Singapore are converting their young customer base into daily visitors and loyalty members.

The brand didn’t predict this behavior shift, but now that it has occurred they are well positioned to provide coffee shops that are natural gathering spots rather than Instagram backdrops.

Sustainability as brand DNA, not a side project: Coachtopia isn’t a CSR initiative – it’s a full sub-brand with its own aesthetic and community. This year’s Bank & Vogue collections expanded beyond bags into clothing, all made from discarded textiles with modular, recyclable components. Stuart Vevers told the FT: “I was very fearful of talking about sustainability… You’re afraid of getting things wrong and getting called out. You’ve got to just try.” By making it a proper sub-brand rather than a ‘sustainable line’, Coach has room to experiment and evolve without compromising the main brand.

‘Expressive luxury’ (but really, still accessible): The luxury sector has lost about 50 million customers in the last two years, many of them young people turned off by the sector’s increasingly high prices. Coach has doubled down on ‘expressive luxury’ (design-forward, customizable, personal) but let’s be real: Coach is #4 on Lyst’s Hottest Brands because they remain affordable. Loewe, Miu Miu and Saint Laurent bags start at $2,000+, Coach’s Tabby is $495. ‘Expressive’ positioning is smart marketing, but the accessible pricing allows Gen Z to buy in.

What could disrupt the revival? First, tariffs. With manufacturing centered in Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines and India, Tapestry’s already cut profit forecasts. If prices rise, so will the accessible advantage. Second, Gen Alpha turns 14 this year. Coach spent five years perfecting their Gen Z playbook, but Alpha’s already forming brand opinions on Roblox.

If tariffs push Coach prices up, Charles & Keith could steal the ‘accessible-but-cool’ position. Coach proved heritage doesn’t matter if you nail community and experience – and none of this playbook is proprietary. The coffee shops, sustainable sub-brands, community building? Any brand could execute this tomorrow.

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