COACH APPRENTICESHIP
As the Apprentice on the Women's Outlet Handbags and Small Leather-goods team, I was given the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge I learned and create my own collection of accessories in a research heavy design exploration.
the concept of this project focuses a lot on biomimicry- not just in terms of colour palette, but also form and function. We're living in a time that's dominated by social media, where trends are constantly coming and going and being ‘relevant’ means ‘changing with the times’. In nature, we see erosion/ corrosion/ and weathering all as a product of the effects of time, while In the animal kingdom, animals learn to shed their skin, camouflage, and adapt to assimilate and thrive in their environment.
I was greatly inspired by the Nike tear-away shoes.These shoes change with time and reveal the coloured layer underneath as they unravel through use, an element I wanted to include in my project.
For silhouette inspiration, I wanted the collection to feel young, be very organic in shape as well as be small and easy to carry.
The target demographic for this collection is GenZ, someone similar to me. Victoria is 24 years old, she's a recent graduate and is trying to navigate her way through the luxury market. She's A TikTok influencer and is someone who loves to talk about what she got, where she got it from and how she styled it. With GenZ, it's been noticed that compared to all other generations, they're very environmentally conscious- they're always looking for something ethically sourced, something that is sustainable, not just in terms of materiality but also time- they want items that will last a while but also have value for money.
On trend with the concept of time and change, I wanted the colour palette to have the potential to transition from summer to fall, which is why it includes a lot of bright, fun colours, as well as a good mix of core and neutral colours.
I narrowed down on the two animals I thought would work best for the novelty silo, the starfish and the frog. These have already been previously referenced in the past and align with coaches' design identity.
The final designs- the starfish with silver HW and silver rivets and the frog with the copper HW and silver rivets.
The ideation process of shortlisting what worked best with the Coach brand identity.
The Asteria Blue family includes
- Shoulder bag (on top left) that converts to a cross body sling,
- The classic Teri silhouette reimagined with new chain accessories to fit in with the collection.
- The Starfish Novelty in the same colourways
- New leather patches (used on the straw tote)
- Starfish bag charms
- Existing SLG wallets in the same colourway to complete the collection
The Asteria Pink family includes all the same silohuettes in a pink tone colourway.
All bags on the left, including the wallets mimic the Nike Tearaway Shoes in the the way that they have two layers, the top one that tears away with time to reveal the Sig C pattern underneath. The bags would be sold in the block colourway with a small incision premade that causes it to unravel over time. This leaves the consumer with the option to leave it as is or to speed up the process and manipulate the tears to fit their aesthetic making the bag ever-changing.
The Anura family has the same shoulder bag and a frog novelty silo. Instead of the Teri, here we have a new small W shaped shoulder bag and a new W shaped long wallet. All of these bags tear away as well. We also have some keychains and patches and the straw tote and the SLGs in the same colourway that complete this collection.
All bags besides the novelty silo have two layers, the first layer which is made of canvas and unravels over the time, and the bottom layer which is the Sig C jacquard.
This is what the bags would look like over the progression of time.
The expandable shoulder bag that converts into a cross-body through the expansion of the chain link that wraps around the body of the bag on its gusset.
A visual of what the Asteria Blue collection would look like with the jacquard layer exposed.
A visual of what the Asteria Pink collection would look like with the jacquard layer exposed.
A visual of what the Anura collection would look like with the jacquard layer exposed.
The complete handbag collection
