Coach has looked to the past with its new Heritage Baseball collection, a capsule range of men’s wallets crafted from vintage baseball gloves.
The collection takes us back to Coach’s roots. On its inception in 1941 the Gail Manufacturing Company, as it was called then, was more famous for its wallets and billfolds than women’s handbags. In fact, the feminine accessories weren’t introduced until the ’50s when Miles Cahn joined the team. An avid baseball fan, Cahn noticed the leather used for the sport’s gloves grew softer and suppler with wear.
Inspired by the catcher’s mitt, Cahn developed new leather processing techniques which were as strong and soft as the sports equipment. Using this cowhide was revolutionary at a time when handbags were generally made of thin leather pasted onto cardboard.
But why use leather that’s reminiscent of the skin from a baseball glove when you can simply use the real thing? The Coach crew spent the last 12 months sourcing vintage mitts from eBay for the collection. Each one of 200 purses in the limited edition line is crafted from mitts that are at least 70 years old. Each one is stamped for authenticity and priced at $348 from Coach outlets.
It might seem like a gimmick, but the quality of the vintage materials and the reduced carbon footprint actually makes this collection pretty smart. What do you think of Coach’s latest line?
