← The Run-Through with Vogue
The Run-Through with Vogue
How Coach’s Stuart Vevers “Stopped Being Fearful About Sustainability and Started to Take Action”
00:26:41
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- [00:01]
Arden Fanning Andrews
This episode of the Run through is brought to you by ebay. I'm Arden Fanning Andrews, Vogue's beauty editor at large. Everyone's talking about tassels right now, and that's the moment that I end up typing it into ebay. I found the perfect vintage triple chain belt with golden tassels, and it just looks so elegant, timeless. And it's on the way in the mail to me. Thanks to ebay.
- [00:26]
Nicole Phelps
Foreign. This is the Run Through. I'm Nicole Phelps, and today I'm lucky to be joined in the studio with Coach's creative director, Stuart Vevers. In honor of Earth Day, we spent most of our conversation talking about Coach Topia and his approach to sustainability. At a time when a lot of the industry seems to be shying away from sustainability practices, Coach has committed to being net zero by 2050. It's a goal that he said will not be easy to make without success. Significant change. We talked about just how Coach plans to do that, whether or not customers actually care about sustainability, and how all of this shows up on the Runway. Okay, enough preamble. Here is my conversation with Stuart. Welcome, Stuart Vevers, to Vogue's Run through podcast. Thank you for joining me.
- [01:20]
Stuart Vevers
Thank you for having me.
- [01:22]
Nicole Phelps
It is April, and April is Earth Month, and this is a year in which we really need to be talking about Earth Month. I saw a headline last week that the 10 warmest years on record are the past 10 years from 2014 to 2023, with 2024 being the warmest globally.
- [01:41]
Stuart Vevers
So let's talk about.
- [01:43]
Nicole Phelps
I want to talk about sustainability. And when I think about you and Coach and sustainability, I think about Coachtopia, which is a project that's been going for a couple of years now. Right. And it's become a real, like, viral sensation.
- [01:58]
Stuart Vevers
Yeah. We started Coachtopia. I mean, the biggest reason was to really push ourselves forward in sustainability. And I'd been doing quite a lot of work around sustainability. And it was a conversation between myself and the CEO. And the reason we started Coachtopia was to really create a space where we could do things very differently. Cause I often found at Coach, we would hit some real challenges of because we had existing processes. And with Coachtopia, the idea was when you start something from scratch, you can invent whatever you want. And that was really what made Coachtopia different.
- [02:45]
Nicole Phelps
Can you talk about what Coachtopia is? For those who don't know? It's. You're basically making a bag from waste parts, right?
- [02:54]
Stuart Vevers
Yeah. There's a lot of different Things that we explore. But one of the areas we've explored is using the waste from Coach to see if we could create pieces that worked, that the client liked. And that's been wild, actually discovering what we were throwing away and what we could create from those things we were essentially throwing away. But I would say it's only one of several different explorers, because in a lot of the sustainability work that I do, but particularly in Coachtopia, it's really about experimenting and using. From my perspective, it's using the power of design and creativity to do things differently.
- [03:40]
Nicole Phelps
Do you want to talk about some of the other explorations?
- [03:43]
Stuart Vevers
Yeah. Yeah. We have a collection we call Loop, and that's bags and also Ready to Wear, where we've created it. So it's a single material. And the theory is that that will make it much more possibilities in terms of recycling. We'll be able to recycle the whole product at end of life, which is something, again, a really interesting explore. A big challenge to try and create something from a single material.
- [04:15]
Nicole Phelps
I mean, I do know, you know, a lot about Coachtopia. I toured the launch collection with you remember it well. But I don't know about lo. I don't think I've ever heard of it. Tell me more about it.
- [04:26]
Stuart Vevers
So it's a lightweight fabric collection and it's made from recycled materials. But the goal of it is it's going to be easier to recycle when it comes to the end of its life. So it's like lightweight fabric bags, but also clothing.
- [04:46]
Nicole Phelps
So lightweight. Is that another way to sort of attract a different kind of consumer? Like it's an easier on the wallet kind of.
- [04:56]
Stuart Vevers
Yeah, I mean, it's. So I would say Coach is mostly known for leather. Loop is an interesting example, and it could, in a way, show you how our sustainable initiatives do connect with a client. Because we've generally not had a lot of success with fabric, But Loop has been really well received. And I think it's because of the approach, because it's trying something different, it's trying something new. It really has a point of view. Aesthetically, yes, it fits in with the kind of upbeat spirit of Coachtopia, But I actually think the way it's made and the potential it shows for circular product, I think is a big part of what makes it work.
- [05:45]
Nicole Phelps
Can we get into the nitty gritty of that? Because I think a lot of people, we hear a lot about recycling when it comes to our plastic and our cardboard, and that's a complicated issue. But when you're talking about a bag, there are many different parts and each part needs to be recycled in a different way. Right. So it's a really elaborate, complicated system.
- [06:08]
Stuart Vevers
I mean, we have a program at Coach called Reloved, which is where a client can bring a bag back to the brand. And we re love the bag. So sometimes that's restoring it, sometimes it's taking it apart for its elements and using them. And so Loop in Coachtopia is the idea of designing something that's been planned to be recycled and being a single material, the theory is that that will be much easier to recycle. As with a lot of exploration around sustainability, those bags have just started their life, so they'll come back to us at a future date and hopefully they will be in use for some time. The theory is that by making it easier to recycle later, it'll be better for the environment.
- [07:03]
Nicole Phelps
Have you gotten any Coachtopia bags via the Reloved program?
- [07:07]
Stuart Vevers
I'm sure we must have had some, but it's still fairly young, so we don't see so many.
- [07:13]
Nicole Phelps
Right, right. The girls are still. And guys are still carrying them around.
- [07:17]
Stuart Vevers
And the first thing we try and do is put the bags back into use. You know, the first thing we do is, you know, if we can just lightly restore something and find a new home for it, that's. That's the first thing we do.
- [07:29]
Nicole Phelps
And I use the word girls and guys purposely because Coachtopia does have a very youthful sensibility. Does Loop as well or.
- [07:37]
Stuart Vevers
Yes. Yeah. Everything in Coachtopia, the two filters were really sustainability and the next generation, Gen Z was really the. A lot of the feedback I was getting was from the new generation or the current generation in regards to sustainability. So then I kind of thought, well, also makes sense to create it with them in mind, you know, because in a way, the initiative was about creating a world that's fit for the gen, the next generation. So also designing it with their sensibility made sense too.
- [08:15]
Nicole Phelps
But we are in the midst of an economic crisis and fashion is really in the thick of it. And I mean, I've definitely heard anecdotally from some designers who work with sustainable or responsibly made materials that the mills themselves are. They're not even offering these kinds of materials anymore because there's not enough demand. Do you find at the moment, are sustainability efforts harder than ever? Or do you think the like, the world around you and the industry around you is sort of making things easier?
- [08:48]
Stuart Vevers
I don't know whether it's making it easier. But it's hard to know for sure, isn't it? But I just have to approach it from a personal perspective. It feels really important to me. I've talked a lot about it within the company I work for and we've created really tangible science based targets. So I know that as a group we are, this is important to us. I know as a person it's something I'm really passionate about and I want to do more. And I hear a lot from our client that this is really important to them. So, yes, there are challenges and some things work and some things don't. But what I found is this is about doing. And I honestly, I came from a place where I was very nervous around sustainability. I was researching it, I was interested. I always felt like it might be someone else's responsibility, you know, production, supply chain, whatever it is. It wasn't really until I was like, it's my responsibility. I have to do something about this. And everything starts with design. So isn't that the right place to start anyway? And then additionally, it was when I started to just talk about it and acknowledge that this can be difficult sometimes and that I won't always get it right. But I'm trying and I'm pushing this forward. And that's when I stopped being fearful about sustainability and I just started to take action. And I found that then I started to attract like minded people. Suppliers would come to me with ideas and, you know, even just within my own team, people started to put their hands up and say, oh, I'm interested in this too and I have an idea I'd like to share. And that for me was really powerful.
- [10:43]
Nicole Phelps
Have you been able to take anything, any of the learnings from Coachtopia or Loop and apply them to the greater, the bigger coach world? Can you talk about that?
- [10:52]
Stuart Vevers
Yeah. We kind of have a, a flexible rule that if we start something in Coachtopia, we give it some time there to learn from it and to make sure that Coachtopia is compelling. But our rule is that after about a year, we can take those learnings and bring them to coach. And by creating Coachtopia, it was never meant to be that we didn't push things forward in coach in terms of sustainability. So we're often sharing ideas and we were also working in things in parallel. So even Runway I use as a, as a laboratory for new ideas around sustainability.
- [11:35]
Nicole Phelps
We will be right back with Stuart Beavers after this break.
- [11:48]
Arden Fanning Andrews
The other day I like went on a real ebay spree. There's this huge push for, like, 80s opulence and 80s sort of glamour, and we're going to see that returning. And so I was already kind of tapped into that just from my gorgeous ebay watch list. And I found a really beautiful Chloe blazer from the 80s and a really great Miu Miu kilt, these great Dior boots, and I'm combining them all together. Sometimes trend forecasting doesn't require something that's gonna be, like, produced in the future. Sometimes you can, like, tap into the past and tap into the archive as well. That's what makes ebay a fun place to actually discover things, because you're not going in with something so specific in mind, but you have an idea of what you're interested in or what you're excited about or, you know, just truly trend forecasting. And so one thing that I would say people should be watching out for is, like, very opulent 80s style.
- [12:52]
Nicole Phelps
We really love the fall show here at Vonk. So I'm curious if there's anything that you could point to in that fall show that is an example of that.
- [13:02]
Stuart Vevers
We start right at the beginning, and we get together as a team, and we throw ideas around every season on Runway, and we use it as a place to experiment. And the difference in. With Coachtopia and with Coach, actually, the goal is scale. I want to make meaningful impact, and Coach has the power to be able to do that. With Runway, it's not necessarily about that. It's actually about trying new things, experimenting, and quite often four out of five things just they won't go anywhere. They're not scalable. But it's that one idea that does break through and does mean that we can create something at scale that I'm looking for. And using Runway and creativity to try new things. For me, it becomes very exciting because you're being a pioneer, you're trying new things, and I think if something doesn't go anywhere, it's okay.
- [14:04]
Arden Fanning Andrews
Yeah.
- [14:04]
Nicole Phelps
So what is it on the fall Runway that is more sustainably oriented?
- [14:10]
Stuart Vevers
I think probably the biggest example would be recycling post consumer garments. So that's. For example, all the denim in the fall show was made from post consumer denim. And as you can imagine, there's a lot of denim in the world. Like, we've made a lot of denim, and with Runway, it's about looking at ways we can create something new with that, like a new silhouette, new techniques. But all the denim in the show was post consumer, and a lot of the leather, we also. We're upcycling leather into new garments. So that's a big area that we explore as Runway. But I would say in a single show, there can be 30, 40, 50 single ideas that we're exploring. And every team is tasked with trying to find new things. And it becomes, like, a healthy competition of, like, you know, who can find what and what new ideas. And then we start sharing them and talking about them, and it's become a real focus of sustainability, the show.
- [15:20]
Nicole Phelps
Well, let's talk about the industry, the fashion industry. Bigger picture. Do you think you have worthy competition? Are there other people who you're. You admire who are making strides, or are you sort of worried that there's, you know, like, a lot of greenwashing going on?
- [15:38]
Stuart Vevers
I. I wish there was more that was happening. Um, in terms of greenwashing, it's a very complex. I mean, it's not complex, because if it's not there doing good for the planet, if it's not doing better for the planet, then yes, it is. Of course it is greenwashing. But I also wanna be careful of. I wanna make sure that we approach this without fear and anxiety. And I think if, you know, yes, things should be questioned and investigated and, you know, but I also wanna make sure that it's a spirit of looking forward, being positive, doing things. And like I said, I definitely came from a place of fear of, like, what if I don't get it perfect? What if I do something and I get criticized for it? Ultimately, I decided I'm gonna put myself out there and try these things, and I'm gonna also be open about the fact that I don't know everything, and I might get some things wrong. But the most important thing for me is to take action and to do things. Do I wish I was doing more? Yes. Sometimes I wish I was doing more. And do I wish our industry was doing more? Yes. But, you know, I see it as my responsibility to push myself and, you know, so some of those concerns are what pushes me forward.
- [16:58]
Nicole Phelps
So I imagine that this kind of honesty, which it feels very rare, I have to say. So congratulations to you for being so honest. Really appeals to the coach customer, you know, this candidness. And I wanted you to talk a little bit more about the. The customer. Do you think they really care about sustainability? And if you do think that, how do you know? How are they telling you?
- [17:22]
Stuart Vevers
I read things. I mean, I think ultimately it's about listening. I get direct feedback that people, they tell me that this also even made them more interested in understanding more about the Coach Brand. And so I think that suggests to me that there's interest. I find it hard to believe that it's not important to most people. I can't. Maybe I'm naive, maybe I'm being naive, but this is our planet we're talking about. I just don't see it as an option not to do better. And for me, doing better will ultimately mean being truly sustainable, being circular, you know, all that. That's my goal. So Coach has committed to carbon net zero by 2050.
- [18:18]
Nicole Phelps
That's ambitious target, right?
- [18:20]
Stuart Vevers
Yeah, yeah. And a lot of the goals we've set, we've actually achieved them ahead of time. And that would certainly be my ambition in this, is to get there ahead of time. And so that is not gonna be easy. We're gonna have to work hard to do that. So we're not waiting till 2030 or 2040 to start with. Starting now.
- [18:43]
Nicole Phelps
We're going to take another break. Back with Stuart Beavers in a moment.
- [18:58]
Arden Fanning Andrews
I like ebay for one of a kind items. Things that feel limited edition or collections that can't be found in stores. And with the ebay authentication, I know that when it arrives, it's real. It is a piece that is coming from the designer's collection, the designer's archive. One of the biggest conversation points for some of the parties that I'll go to during Fashion Week are the pieces that I'm getting off of ebay. Everyone's a little bit intrigued and excited whenever they hear that you were able to find something on this digital treasure hunt.
- [19:32]
Nicole Phelps
Does part of your passion about sustainability and sort of making sure the earth makes it come from having two little kids? Because I know it affects me having a kid and worrying about the world.
- [19:46]
Stuart Vevers
Definitely, yeah. It definitely had a big impact. And my kids were born in 2020, so it was also like a time of a lot of reflection and a lot of questioning of why I do what I do. Like that thinking and questioning, plus thinking about my kids future definitely pushed me forward. Yeah.
- [20:10]
Nicole Phelps
Are there any ways that you as a family, try to be more responsible in your everyday life?
- [20:17]
Stuart Vevers
Yeah, yeah. I think all the little things that I think we all do, whether it's recycling at home, but like renovation projects, like at home, I always start with that. If there's something that exists in the world, already start there, you know, So I love old things as well. So when I'm doing a renovation project, I look at what I can restore or reclaim and, you know, whether it's wood for a floor or a staircase, as I recently did. I just think, why not start with things that already exist.
- [20:52]
Nicole Phelps
Well, I'm glad you brought that up. Vogue just had a vintage sale and made a lot of money for the victims of the Los Angeles fires. Coach bag are a real phenomenon in the vintage resale scene. We have this stat that someone on Reddit created a spreadsheet documenting 650 vintage coach style numbers and their corresponding style names, which is very impressive. You need to get. You need to get that person interning for a Coach. So what do you think makes people so drawn to these. These older pieces?
- [21:27]
Stuart Vevers
It's really interesting, actually. Cause I think if you look at Coaches history, like, like it's when I go to, or if I'm in New York or in Tokyo or London, I'll often see some. A young person walking down the street and they're wearing a Coach bag that just happens to be 40 or 50 years old. And I think it's really part of Coach's story is that that quality that means that things are crafted to last. I think that always meant previously that was often the bags from the 60s or 70s or 80s. And I think more recently there's a real phenomenon about the bags from the later eras of Coach, which when I first started to see that, it was quite disconcerting. Like I was.
- [22:16]
Nicole Phelps
Are you talking about pre you, like the 2000s before you. Oh, yeah.
- [22:20]
Stuart Vevers
Like, I guess 90s and early 2000s has become a real, you know, I mean, I live around the corner from a flea market and I was just there yesterday actually, and there was a cool young woman who was just. She was carrying a new Coach bag and she was buying a vintage Coach bag. And I think it was like a 2000, mid 2000s to me. That's really exciting because I think the best way to be sustainable is to keep things in use. Like the fact that there's desirability around those vintage Coach pieces. I think it's good.
- [23:01]
Nicole Phelps
Does it inform your design process?
- [23:03]
Stuart Vevers
Sometimes? Yeah, sometimes. Cause we'll sometimes hear of like, really rare, like vintage finds that people are particularly excited about, and then that can sometimes become a starting point for something new.
- [23:17]
Nicole Phelps
I've told you this before, but my first designer bag was a Coach bag. Yes. And gosh, I wish I still had.
- [23:24]
Stuart Vevers
It, but I quite often, often hear that from people. And I think it's. Coach holds a special place in a lot of people's hearts because of that reason. I think one of the first times you see those cyclical trends come through is kids raiding their parents closet. You Know, I remember when I first started to see those. The logo bags from the early 2000s, and I was fascinated about where this had come from and where it had started. And I think it's that it comes down to that thing of a new generation discovering something.
- [24:02]
Nicole Phelps
Yes. You and I have been in the business long enough to see things that we remember very well firsthand. Like coming back as quote, unquote, vintage.
- [24:11]
Stuart Vevers
Yeah. At first it was terrifying, and now I kind of like it. It's like, well, actually, I have a lot of info on that I can share and, like, you know, I can dig into my own personal experiences from that time. So it's kind of fun.
- [24:27]
Nicole Phelps
We have people at Vogue who have been applying to kindergarten schools, and we understand that you have been, too. And how's the process going?
- [24:37]
Stuart Vevers
I think everyone who's gone through this experience knows it can be quite stressful. I will openly acknowledge that my husband did most of the work, and we had a lot of heated discussions. But in the end, our cause, we have twins, river and Vivian, and so it was double the amount of work. We made the decision, which I would recommend. It worked for us anyway. We were very selective. We just chose two schools each to apply for, and it just gave it a lot more focus. And I guess it just showed that we actually really cared about these schools and we felt they were right for them.
- [25:19]
Nicole Phelps
Do the schools know that you only applied to one other school?
- [25:22]
Stuart Vevers
I think we told them, yeah, because we saw her as like.
- [25:27]
Nicole Phelps
And so that would be your tip for our colleagues here at Vogue. Anything else that you can suggest. How did you and your husband not just fight? Fight all the time about it?
- [25:38]
Stuart Vevers
We did. We fought about it or we had heated discussions. It's when I got a really good argument. Like, when Ben had a really good argument, I just was like, okay, you. That's a good argument. Like, let's. We've made the decision. We'll move on.
- [25:56]
Nicole Phelps
Yeah, Well, I am soon to be applying to college with my son, and I am not going to apply to just two schools.
- [26:05]
Stuart Vevers
I know it's probably the worst advice possible, but, you know, I guess I'm just saying it worked for us because, yeah, it could have been overwhelming. You know, people apply to, like, seven, eight, nine schools, so that's probably not.
- [26:20]
Nicole Phelps
Even as many as I will be applying to for college. But as you said at the beginning, you have been at Coach now for going on 12 years. So I want you to talk a little bit about what is next for you at Coach.
- [26:35]
Stuart Vevers
The eternal question I guess the thing I would say is I don't think that far ahead. I think at its best, fashion reflects the times we're in. And I always think the Runway is. It's where I pour most of my emotions and love and passions. That collection is just where me and the team spend a lot of time really thinking about where we, you know, what statements we want to make about the future. And it changes. I mean, we will make decisions up till 60 seconds before the show. And I think that's one of the things I love most about fashion is it's always changing. It's never the same. And it's at its best. It reflects the times we live in, and we live in very complex times. So I love the fact that I have no idea what I'm gonna present in September. We're in April, and. And to me, that's really exciting. So, like, the honest answer is, I don't know. I don't know what I'm gonna do next at Coach. And that's kind of. That's something that I love.
- [27:51]
Nicole Phelps
Well, that is a very positive thing to leave with. Thank you.
- [27:56]
Stuart Vevers
Thank you.
- [27:58]
Nicole Phelps
That's it for today's episode. The Run through will be back on Thursday. Goodbye.
- [28:12]
Chelsea Daniel
The Run through is produced by Chelsea Daniel, Alex DePalma and Joanna Solotarov. It's engineered by Jake Loomis and James Yost. It is mixed by Mike Kutchman. Stephanie Karaoke is our executive producer, and Chris Bannon is Conde Nast's head of Global Audio.
- [28:38]
Arden Fanning Andrews
The other day, I, like, went on a real ebay spree. There's this huge push for, like, 80s opulence and 80s sort of glamour, and we're going to see that returning. And so I was already kind of tapped into that just from my gorgeous ebay watch list. And I found a really beautiful Chloe blazer from the 80s and a really great Miu Miu kilt be's, great Dior boots. And I'm combining them all together. Sometimes trend forecasting doesn't require something that's going to be, like, produced in the future. Sometimes you can, like, tap into the past and tap into the archive as well. That's what makes ebay a fun place to actually discover things, because you're not going in with something so specific in mind, but you have an idea of what you're interested in or what you're excited about or, you know, just truly trend forecasting. And so one thing that I would say people should be watching out for is, like, very opulent 80s style.
- [29:37]
Stuart Vevers
From PRX.