In November 2011, American accessories label Coach teamed up with fashion blogger Emily Johnston of Fashion Foie Gras on a limited-edition, one-off bag. The result was a tote designed around what a working blogger actually carries.
The bag officially launched with a party in London and went on sale in boutiques and online from 30 November.
What the bag was like
It was a large canvas and leather tote. A padded pocket on the front held a digital SLR camera, and a sectioned compartment stored flat shoes. Both were practical touches for someone who spends a day moving between shows, shops and a laptop.
The materials were chosen with weight in mind: a mix of canvas and leather kept the bag lighter for easy carrying.
The tote also carried both the British and US flags. They stood for Johnston’s current home and her birthplace respectively. She was even allowed to choose which Coach logo went on the front.
How a blogger came to design for Coach
Johnston was running a successful fashion news blog in London called Fashion Foie Gras when Coach approached her. She has described the invitation as a question: would she design a bag with Coach in New York, to be released to open the flagship Coach store on Bond Street in November 2011?
The design came together quickly. Over the next 48 hours, she and the team fine-tuned it before presenting it to Coach’s creative director at the time, Reed Krakoff. He approved the design. She left New York with a signed-off design, and Coach set to work making it.
What Coach and Johnston said
Coach framed the project as a brief about practicality. Jason Weisenfeld, the brand’s senior vice president of global brand communications and collaborations, said the company asked Johnston to design something practical for the working blogger. In his words, she produced a bag with the modern functionality that bloggers need.
Johnston called the experience the most nerve-racking, but also the most exhilarating, of her life. She said she had long held the brand in high regard.
Why it mattered in 2011
Fashion blogs in 2011 were still fairly new as a force in the industry. Coach was one of several brands working with bloggers at the time. In Singapore, for instance, Coach opened a press office that year and hosted bloggers at a press preview of its Fall Winter 2011 collections. Letting a blogger design a bag, rather than just wear or review one, went a step further.
Coach has since moved on to other ways of involving customers in design. A more recent example is Coach Create, a customisation service the brand launched in October. It lets customers design a bag made just for them. That is a different idea from the 2011 tote, which was a single design made for sale to the public.
Where it stands now
The tote was a limited edition from 2011, 15 years ago. Its sale run was tied to that November launch and the opening of the Bond Street flagship. Whether any units remain at Coach is not confirmed. Anyone looking for one today would need to look to the resale market, where availability varies.
Johnston has continued to write about the project. In a more recent post on her own Substack, she described the story and photos behind it as one of her favourite and most surreal accomplishments.