Coach Pre-Fall Handbag Designs

Iconic American handbag line Coach has given the fashion media an early-look at their pre-fall 2016 handbag collection, and we’re not exactly sure what to think. While there is absolutely no denying that the 60s and 70s trends have been dominating the runways for the past few seasons, most of the successful collections that have drawn heavily from these periods of reference (like Louis Vuitton ad Gucci) have managed to take design elements from these periods and turn them into modern interpretations of a recognizable retro inspiration. With the Coach Pre-Fall 2016 collection, we’re not entirely sure that they’ve managed to pull this off. While the clean design lines and crisp shapes that coach is so well-known for are still very much there, they are for the most part hidden beneath a veritable bouquet of leather appliqué cut-out flowers, patchwork, and colorful black background designs on pony hair which are reminiscent of a velvet Elvis painting at a flea market along route 66. However, it isn’t all literal retro interpretation. There are still the beautiful flap bags with the brass turnlock closures that Coach has been making for as long as we can remember, this time updated with a sexy chain strap and done in texturized pebble leather. There are also some soft-sided pebble leather top handle satchels with detachable leather shoulder straps that will surely stand the test of time and look as good in ten years as they do today. To us, it is a collection festooned with misses, and a few very solid hits where the designers simply missed the canvas with the leather cutouts, rhinestones, and pony hair.