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Coach Creative Director Stuart Vevers first got into fashion by going out. "I definitely got into fashion through going out, through clubbing," Vevers says. In the latest episode of The Who What Wear Podcast, Vevers shares how he got his start in the industry by literally knocking on an interviewer's door, the hints he can share about Coach's upcoming collection, and more. To read excerpts from the conversation, scroll below.
Can you tell us a little bit about how you first got interested in fashion and thought maybe that was the industry for you?
I grew up in the north of England, a working-class family. It felt, in retrospect, quite far from the world of fashion. I definitely got into fashion through going out, through clubbing. I'm tall, and I was tall for my age at like 15, so I could get into nightclubs quite young. The excitement of dressing up led to me researching outfits.
I used to make things. My grandmother was involved in amateur dramatics at her local theater. I would go to her house, and we'd make outfits or bits of outfits together, and then I started to research designers. I discovered fashion as something to do rather than something to buy, with a lot of help from my grandmother.
Talk to me a little bit about moving into the industry after college. I read that your first job was at Calvin Klein—not just any era of the brand but late-'90s Calvin Klein. What was that experience like?
In many ways, it was just mind-blowing. I still didn't really know a lot about the industry, but I very quickly realized it was a competitive world. I knew I would have to work hard and stand out and all of those things.
I was actually interviewed for Calvin [Klein] in London, so they were recruiting in the UK. I wasn't actually on the interview list, but a friend was going, and she divulged the location, and I actually just knocked on the door of the interviewer. She was more interested in me because of that. I don't know for sure, but it seemed like she was interested in the fact that I pushed my way in.
I studied womenswear at college, and she was interviewing for womenswear. She didn't think I was right for her team, so she actually put me forward for a job in accessories, and that's actually how I got into accessories.
I have to talk to you about New York Fashion Week because it is nearly upon us. I know that you can't reveal all of your secrets, but I'm wondering if there's any insight that you can share about your inspiration for the upcoming collection.
There's something a little bit more controlled about it, but things start to act a bit strangely when you look closely. And there is a bit of a journey in the show. We start in one place and… I'm saying it as if it's done. We're not quite there yet, but that's the intention, at least today. We're celebrating our 85th anniversary, so that's part of it. We're bringing people into our world and hosting them and telling some stories about Coach along the way.
Actually, the collection itself is very forward-looking. There's really no retrospective elements from either my time at Coach or through the history of Coach. There [are retrospective elements] in details and ideas, of course, but the collection as a whole is quite forward-looking. There's something a bit more controlled about it.
As someone who actually sets trends and moves the way that America dresses, the way the world dresses, do you have any predictions for any trends this fall?
People are experimenting more. I get a sense that people are more drawn to the strange in this moment. I think it might come down to self-expression. I'm seeing more things that surprise me, some stranger things. We've mostly come through a quieter period, in a way.
What is the most underrated Coach bag?
Probably, I would say Rogue. It's been part of our collection, then it's not, and now it's back again. I do think that was a really important moment for Coach when we introduced Rogue. I met someone once at a party who I'd known years before, and she was like, "I didn't think I'd go back to Coach, and you got me with that bag. … There's something about it. I just had to have it." It's definitely a bag that I really love.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.