Coachtopia has landed at Bloomingdale’s.
The Carousel @ Bloomingdale’s Coachtopia, a playful pop-up that recognizes the circularity-focused Coach subbrand’s vision of a more sustainable future for fashion through products and interactive experiences, opened Thursday at the 59th Street flagship and Bloomingdales.com.
The pop-up showcases a selection of innovative Coachtopia bags and accessories, including the Alter/Ego collection, a range of bags crafted with leather scraps left over from the production of iconic Coach styles such as the Tabby, Hampton and Brooklyn bags, that might otherwise have gone to landfill. Those bags achieve a 59-80 percent carbon footprint reduction, compared to similar styles made with new materials.
The shop will also feature the Coachtopia Loop collection, made with at least 98 percent recycled PET plastic and designed to be recycled multiple times as part of Coachtopia’s closed-loop system.
The Carousel @ Bloomingale’s Coachtopia.
Courtesy of Bloomingdale’s
The pop-up shop, which was unfurled Thursday, will be open through April 30.
“We’re very excited about Coachtopia. Our longtime partner Coach is really hot right now. Our customers are really asking about the brand,” said Frank Berman, executive vice president, chief marketing officer at Bloomingdale’s. When you put that together with the world of sustainability, Bloomingdale’s B the Change initiative and wanting to be good corporate citizens, what Coach is doing with Coachtopia is right up the retailer’s alley, he said.
“We’ve created Coachtopia as both a new world of circular fashion and a collaborative platform for change — and so we’re excited to partner with Bloomingdale’s to bring this world to life in one of the most iconic spaces and share all the ways in which we’re reimagining waste to create a more hopeful future for fashion,” said Joon Silverstein, chief marketing officer of Coach.
A view of some of the Coachtopia accessories and ready-to-wear.
Courtesy of Bloomingdale’s
The physical pop-up takes over The Carousel @ Bloomingdale’s 1,600-square foot main floor space, as well as displays in the store’s Lexington Avenue windows for the launch. Throughout four weekends, it will come to life with the help of partners from the Coachtopia community, including DJs, food partners and a Dustbag Print Shop, in which any customer who buys a Coachtopia product will receive a limited-edition Coachtopia dustbag made with 100 percent recycled materials, which will be screen-printed on site as a gift with purchase.
“It’s also an event geared toward Gen Z in the way the shop is set up. There’s a particular interest in Coachtopia and this type of product from both a brand standpoint from Coach and a sustainability standpoint,” said Berman.
The shop will feature 57 stock keeping units, including eight ready-to-wear pieces. Prices range from $75 to $295.
Over four weekends in March and April, The Carousel @ Bloomingdale’s: Coachtopia will also feature a program of in-store activations with sustainable-minded partners and community events at Bloomingdale’s 59th Street flagship.
The Carousel @ Bloomingdale’s Coachtopia explains the mission.
Courtesy of Bloomingdale’s
On March 22, drinks from OM Juice Bar and music from DJ Sophia Ziskin will be featured. On April 5 there will be cotton candy from Fluff & Fluff and music from DJ Jade Croo. On April 12, there will be a Trashy charm bar, with community members Mecca McDonald and Mia Dunn of Mo.NaGems, while supplies last. And on April 19, sweet treats by Angelbaked and music by DJ Odalys will be showcased.
For three weekends (March 22, April 5 and April 19), the Coachtopia pop-up will also feature the Dustbag Print Shop. The Alter/Ego video booth will have a chance to snap a photo with one of Coachtopia’s made-with-waste bags.
“There’s definitely an urgency for customers to get out and see it. All of our curated concepts have been a big hit. That’s part of our strategy, to get people coming back to see what’s new and what’s next,” said Berman. They have three more rotations coming up toward the end of the year.
“Since we launched Coachtopia in April 2023, we have been really focused on bringing this new world of circular fashion and our vision of a more hopeful future to life for our communities,” said Silverstein. She said they are always looking to find like-minded partners to work to bring this world to life and reach new audiences.
The Carousel @ Bloomingdale’s represents Coachtopia’s first wholesale experience in North America, after selling its products in Selfridges and Zalando in Europe.
“It’s a really fun and bold way to launch our partnership with Bloomingdale’s to do something different and unexpected and really compelling,” said Silverstein.
‘With this collection, we’re moving from simply making with waste to thinking ahead to future Coach waste and working to design it out from the beginning,” she said.
Coachtopia’s products are made by the overseas suppliers who make Coach. The scraps are produced from the same materials that make the Coach products. The Alter Ego collection, for example, features the checkerboard technique that reimagines the small and irregular scraps of leather that are left over after specific Coach bag patterns are cut from Coach leather hides. The Alter Ego shoulder bags are made from the leftover napa leather that comes from the leftover quilted Tabby bag, and Alter Ego satchel is made from the leftover scraps of natural leather leftover from the Coach Brooklyn.
According to Silverstein, the Carousel shop itself is also made with recyclable materials. The components are all designed to be remade and reused. The shelves are made from 100 percent recycled plastic, and the sign “Coachtopia” is made from recycled neon from the industry. “We’re really thinking about how the entire experience can be an immersive and educational one for our consumers,” said Silverstein.
“It’s a big investment in time, resources and money to do it right. We’re really excited about the way it’s going to look when complete. I think customers are going to be excited about the space and excited about the energy, and most importantly, excited about the product,” said Berman. The shop was built collaboratively between Coach, which did the lion’s share, and Bloomingdale’s.
An educational wall displays how iconic Coach products are transformed into Coachtopia bags. There’s a video screen showcasing their latest campaign called “The Wasted Parts,” starring actor and Coachtopia community member Lola Tung and directed by L.A.-based choreographer and filmmaker C. Prinz.
All of Coachtopia are designed to be unisex and gender-neutral.
Silverstein anticipates the bestsellers will be the Alter Ego collection, especially the shoulder bag which has sold out in various places. “This pop-up represents another opportunity for consumers to have access to these really coveted pieces,” she said. Besides Bloomingdale’s, Coachtopia is sold online at coach.com and 36 Coach stores in North America, as well as overseas.
“By collaborating with Bloomingdale’s we’re not only making use of an amazing space to bring the Coachtopia world to life, we’re also able to reach a new audience of consumers. My hope is to make Coachtopia and circular fashion more accessible than ever,” said Silverstein.
