Up Your Style Game With Beautifully Up-crafted Bags From Coachtopia

Why settle for one life cycle when you can get several? With the forward-looking vision of Coachtopia, the new sub-brand of renowned label Coach is voraciously breathing new life into scrap materials and churning out stylish bags that are just as fit for the shelves of luxury as the esteemed collections from its mother brand.

In Coachtopia’s world of circular fashion, turning something used into something new is the name of the game. Waste materials and fabrics that are destined for landfill get intentionally repurposed with creativity and ingenuity.

“We were inspired by our shared desire to do better for the planet by inventing new circular ways of dreaming, designing and creating,” says Stuart Vevers, creative director at Coach. “It is a bigger, bolder step forward in realising our vision for sustainability at Coach, where we prioritise experimenting and learning, and ethical design intentions over cookie-cutter perfection.”

Launched in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom earlier this year, Coachtopia’s collections not only include bags and accessories, but also ready-to-wear apparel, all made with recycled and repurposed materials. The good news is, you no longer have to ogle from afar. Come August 4, 2023, you too can get your hands on these beauties right here in Singapore as Coachtopia makes its Asian debut at Coach’s concept store, the Coach Play Singapore Shophouse (5 Keong Saik Road), complete with a sustainable coaster-making workshop.

Related article: Coach Spring/Summer 2023 Is Rooted In The Now

Changing mindsets, changing methods

Through the circular craft, each Coachtopia product is not only given a new lease on life, but is also designed to live numerous lives – to be “reimagined, remade and recycled” again and again. 

With sustainability at the forefront, these three principles define the brand’s Made Circular™ design philosophy and govern their work – that is, finding new uses for waste materials (reimagined); designed to be recreated over multiple lives (remade); and with defined pathways for reuse (recycled).

Drawing on more than 80 years of the brand’s expertise in leather, Coachtopia reimagines each product from end to beginning by first crafting with waste and avoiding or cutting down on the use of new, virgin materials to reduce their carbon footprint.

“To transform our impacts, we need to fundamentally shift mindsets – from seeing opportunity in waste to designing backwards to taking a more open-source approach to creativity,” explains Joon Silverstein, the senior vice-president for global marketing, creative and sustainability at Coach as well as head of Coachtopia.

Co-creating: A collaborative platform for change

What makes Coachtopia even more unique and unusual is that its design inspiration isn't top-down, but is in itself a circular movement that draws on the creative juices of the Gen Z community and those who are passionate about addressing the climate crisis. This includes everyone from climate activists, designers and everyday up-cyclers, to journalists, filmmakers, entrepreneurs and fashion enthusiasts.

“We created Coachtopia as both a discovery lab to pioneer circularity in fashion and a collaborative platform for change,” says Silverstein. “We are building it not just for our consumers, but with them, inviting a growing community of hundreds of Gen Z individuals to join us on our Slack channel, collaborate with us on products, take centre stage in our content and campaigns – and reimagine our future together.”

Going cyclical: Track your impact

In line with their mission to keep the wheels of innovation turning, Coachtopia aims to propel circular craft even further with their promise to take back every product at the end of its lifespan for reuse, remaking or recycling.

What’s even more exciting is that each bag, wallet, and ready-to-wear product also comes with a unique digital passport – accessed via an embedded NFC (near-field communication) chip – that lets you follow the product’s journey.

With the transparent information about its Made Circular™ design and the materials used, you also get to see how recycling and reducing waste can make such a big difference in humanity's collective efforts to save planet Earth.

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Photo: Coach

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Photo: Coach

Bags we love

Using a slew of artisanal techniques, including patchwork, weaving, appliqué, sequins, pressed leathers and scrap binding, fashion waste from mothership Coach’s production floor – such as leather-cutting room scraps and zipper ends – are transformed into stunning handbags which make up the Coachtopia launch collection.

Here are some of our favourites, which include the Ergo and Wavy Dinky shoulder bags that are made using Coachtopia leather as well as up-crafted leather (including the checkerboard style):

Coachtopia ERGO

This grab-and-go shoulder bag reimagines an iconic '90s silhouette from Coach’s archives for a more circular future. Whether in upcrafted or Coachtopia leather style, it's made from at least 48 per cent materials recycled or upcycled from waste, including leather scraps leftover at Coach’s own tanneries or suppliers that might otherwise go to landfill.

Made with Coachtopia leather: Available in Black, Cloud, Strawberry Haze/Lime Green, Violet Orchid/Flax and Lime Green/Sunflower.

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Ergo Shoulder Bag, Black, $475. Photo: Coach

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Ergo Shoulder Bag, Strawberry Haze/Lime Green, $475. Photo: Coach

Made with checkerboard upcrafted leather: Available in Black/Chalk, Bubblegum/Ivory, Burnished Amber/Chalk and Deep Blue/Ice Purple.

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Ergo Shoulder Bag, Deep Blue/Ice Purple, $650. Photo: Coach

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Ergo Shoulder Bag, Burnished Amber/Chalk, $650. Photo: Coach

Made with pressed upcrafted leather: Available in Black Multicolour and Miami Red Multicolour.

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Limited Edition Ergo Shoulder Bag In Pressed Upcrafted Leather, Black Multicolour, $650. Photo: Coach

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Ergo Shoulder Bag, Burnished Amber Multicolour, $475. Photo: Coach

Made with Coachtopia leather with upcrafted scrap binding: Available in Burnished Amber Multicolour.

Coachtopia WAVY DINKY

This is a shoulder bag with a mission to move beyond the linear fashion system, putting a new, wavy spin on an archival Coach silhouette from 1973. Wear it as a shoulder bag with its removable, partially-recycled resin chain strap, or as a crossbody with its longer leather strap.

Made with Coachtopia leather: Available in Black, Cloud, Violet Orchid/Flax and Lime Green/Sunflower.

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Wavy Dinky Shoulder Bag, Violet Orchid/Flax, $750. Photo: Coach

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Wavy Dinky Shoulder Bag, Lime Green/Sunflower, $750. Photo: Coach

Made with Coachtopia leather with upcrafted scrap binding: Available in Burnished Amber Multicolour and Vintage Blue Multicolour.

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Wavy Dinky Shoulder Bag, Burnished Amber Multicolour, $750. Photo: Coach

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Wavy Dinky Shoulder Bag, Vintage Blue Multicolour, $750. Photo: Coach

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Wavy Dinky Shoulder Bag, Black/Chalk, $950. Photo: Coach

Made with checkerboard upcrafted leather: Available in Black/Chalk.

Collaborative designs: A platform for new designers

To showcase the designs of emerging talents, Coachtopia has also included limited-edition product collaborations in its launch collection, printed with trippy artwork from Coachtopia community member Sabrina Lau.

Coachtopia ERGO x Sabrina Lau: Available in Cherry Print/Cloud Multicolour, Mushroom Print/Black Multicolour and Strawberry Print/Lime Green Multicolour.

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Ergo Shoulder Bag, Cherry Print/Cloud Multicolour, $525. Photo: Coach

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Baby T Shirt In 95% Recycled Cotton: This Is Coachtopia, $150. Photo: Coach

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Tote In 100% Recycled Canvas: Let Us Take A Trip, $375. Photo: Coach

Coachtopia WAVY DINKY x Sabrina Lau: Available in Strawberry Print/Lime Green Multicolour, Cherry Print/Cloud Multicolour, Mushroom Print/Black Multicolour.

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Wavy Dinky Shoulder Bag, Strawberry Print/Lime Green Multicolour, $795. Photo: Coach

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Relaxed T Shirt In 95% Recycled Cotton: Let Us Take A Trip, $175. Photo: Coach

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Hoodie In 95% Recycled Cotton: This Is Coachtopia, $375. Photo: Coach

Check out Coachtopia’s collections at the Coach Play Singapore Shophouse at 5 Keong Saik Road.