How Selena Gomez Is Helping the Coach Brand Transformation
Coach‘s dramatic shift continues as brand ambassador Selena Gomez stars in her first campaign for the label. Gomez can be seen fronting the Coach fall ’17 ads, released today, featuring the brand’s key bags of the season.
With 122 million followers on Instagram, making her the most followed person on the photo-sharing app, Gomez is a key factor in refocusing the Coach image.
And it seems to be working.
Coach Inc. CEO Victor Luis spoke on the Gomez effect in the company’s third-quarter conference call in May. He said, “The reaction on social media was instantaneous and electric [after we announced the partnership]. Selena’s first two posts for Coach [got] very high engagement, garnering nearly 5 million and 6 million likes, respectively, on Instagram.”
Luis also discussed the brand’s current transformation, most recently at the Footwear News CEO Summit in Miami. He explained,“The Coach brand has been through a few chapters. The first was up until 2000. From 2000 on, we transformed ourselves into a lifestyle brand, but we weren’t really a fashion resource. Today, with Stuart Vevers at the helm, we decided to go [all]-in, and it started with us presenting a full lifestyle view of who the Coach woman and man is, and presenting Coach in a modern context.”
Watch on FN
In the new campaign, shot by Steven Meisel, Gomez is channeling that said modern context. She is seen in New York and is being portrayed as the “Coach girl” about to embark on a road trip. The ads were styled by Karl Templer, with creative direction by Fabien Baron, makeup by Pat McGrath and hair by Guido Palau.
Along with the set of images, Coach will reveal three short films dedicated to the label’s featured handbags for the season: the Rogue, the Coach Swagger and the Edie. Created by Baron & Baron, each video stars Gomez getting ready in a New York apartment for a night on the town.
“Selena is a rebel and a romantic, a dreamer and a doer who boldly charts her own course,” Coach creative director Stuart Vevers, who took home the Accessory Designer of the Year prize at the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards this month, said in a release. “To me, she speaks to a generation; she connects.”
Since the December 2016 announcement that Gomez would be the face of Coach, the singer has fully embraced the “Coach girl” and the all-American look. She has been seen on many occasions wearing the brand for casual outings, while also representing the company at one of the biggest nights in fashion — the Met Gala. Gomez walked the carpet with Vevers by her side in a custom feminine gown.
Watch the short film starring Gomez below.
Want more?
Selena Gomez Wore the $100 Athleisure Sneakers You Need This Summer
Why the Fashion Industry Can Expect More Deals Like Coach & Kate Spade
Selena Gomez in Gucci & More Sneakers to Shop That Celebs Are Loving Right Now
