“This really is to celebrate Coach’s 75th anniversary, but I wanted it to be more than just about Coach,” said Stuart Vevers at Milk Studios’s garage of the brand’s new monograph last night. “I kind of honed in on the idea of American style, and more specifically New York City style—there are some really amazing pictures of just real women at the subway station or in the subway car. To me, that kind of New York City style is grounded. It has attitude. Those are the kinds of images that I love.”
The tome, a massive Fabien Baron–designed ode to the city’s aesthetic and the classic American brand’s visual history, is filled with imagery of Debbie Harry (who wrote the book’s introduction, and was on hand last night) in the streets downtown, David Bowie sauntering out of The Carlyle, Matt Dillon and Bridget Fonda in conversation in matching leather bikers in the park, and more moments of New York style, both well-known and anonymous.
Contemporary New Yorkers of style—Hari Nef, Chloe Wise, Dilone, Petra Collins, and more—turned up to sip champagne and toast the offering at Milk.
“I’m obsessed with American style, so this is really where I pull a lot of my favorite images and references and things that have been my inspiration from the past,” said Vevers. “Making the book—it was a lot of fun!”