Coach is hoping its recycled ‘wet blue’ leather handbag is fashion’s latest must-have
Tapestry’s Coach brand is collaborating with startup Gen Phoenix to refine landfill-rescued leather that later this year will be featured in Coach Classic handbags.
Coach CEO Todd Kahn sported a stylish jacket on stage during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Gen Phoenix Chief Marketing Officer Elyse Winer stepped out in a pair of Coach loafers. The two executives were there Jan. 9 to let attendees know that their fashion choices were not any ordinary leather, but waste leather.
Kahn and Winer want to flaunt a vision of efforts they hope will help to popularize “circular” leather.
Coach plans to buy 40 million square feet of recycled leather fiber from startup Gen Phoenix over the next three years. That’s a noteworthy amount. For example, the bag maker’s parent company, Tapestry, used 105 million square feet of leather in its three brands, including Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman, in fiscal year 2024.
