A few years ago, I wrote an article about Gen Z, the heritage bag brand Coach, and its parent company, Tapestry. Today, I wanted to revisit the brand to examine its current relationship with the generation and evaluate whether it has had success in its brand-building activities and its Coachtopia brand extension.
COACH’S CURRENT STRATEGY & GROWTH
Recently, the brand has been back in the spotlight for extending its line of bag charms and offering mini versions of books that customers can attach to their bags. The charms are part of the Coach’s ‘Explore Your Story’ campaign, which targets Gen Z by subverting the current popularity of fast-paced digital content and connecting with them through long-form storytelling (Yang, 2026).
Check out Coach’s Explore Your Story video ad with Elle Fanning below.
The campaign focuses on telling the stories of popular Gen Z women with a global perspective, and aims to tell stories “that inspire us to explore all of who we are” (Explore Your Story, n.d.). The campaign’s goal takes into account Gen Z’s growing anti-consumption attitudes towards online content, particularly short-form video on social media. It’s been exemplified recently with the creation of what is being called an analogue bag, or a bag that “contain[s] the essentials needed to remain offline for as long as possible. One user describes it as a “toy box for your attention span” (Donnell, 2026).
It comes as the brand’s revenue rose 25% and its parent brand’s revenue, Tapestry, rose 14%, according to a recent Q2 earnings call (Fatima, 2026). The campaign’s success is supported by Tapestry’s Amplify growth strategy, which is focused on four strategic pillars: creating lasting relationships with customers, product and fashion innovation, developing omni-channel experiences, and powering global growth.
They’re putting the strategy into action and seeing real gains by focusing on top-of-the-funnel brand-building activities and increasing their marketing budget, which, as of now, is up to 11% of sales (Tipranks, 2026). As a result, the brand acquired “over 3.7 million new customers globally, a third of whom are Gen Z.” (Fatima, 2026).
WHAT ABOUT THE COACHTOPIA BRAND EXTENSION?
It’s clear that their new brand management strategy is working, especially with Gen Z customers. But what about Coach’s Coachtopia brand extension? Coachtopia is a brand targeting Gen Z shoppers in a sub-brand structure with Coach. Its focus is to provide shoppers with sustainable bags and accessories that are innovative, bold, and experimental in style, and that “[find] beauty in waste” (Coachtopia, n.d.).
But has this brand been able to resonate with Gen Z? It launched in 2023 and has been able to deliver some truly innovative bags when it comes to circular production and unique product design, but Scott Roe, Tapestry’s chief financial and chief operating officer said the Coachtopia’s contribution to the brand’s profits are “relatively small” (Marshak, 2025). This comes after the brand increased its investment in an eco-leather brand, Gen Phoenix, in 2025.
Roe also highlighted how even though Coachtopia isn’t “commercially massive”, its role is an important part of the company’s larger strategy to attract Gen Z buyers. But has it been successful in doing so (Marshak, 2025)?
It doesn’t appear that Gen Z places the same value in buying a Coachtopia bag as in purchasing other Coach-branded products. The main reason for this is that they haven’t engaged enough in brand-building and therefore haven’t built sufficient mental availability within their target audience. So even though the brand’s values are important to Gen Z buyers, it hasn’t built enough brand equity in their minds. As a result, shoppers don’t necessarily think of Coachtopia in bag-buying situations and don’t see the value in buying from them over another brand or from Coach itself, beyond the appeal of any brand’s sustainable product or interestingly designed bag.
Beyond that, there are customer concerns to address regarding the bags’ pricing and perceived quality, which is another point of contention. One thread on Coach’s subreddit page even asks outright, “Is Coachtopia worth it”. This question was met with a sea of replies telling the original poster that no, the brand’s bags weren’t worth it; one even said, “I love a lot of the Coachtopia designs but don’t think the quality is worth the full price”.
On other platforms, it’s a similar story, and one of the most notable examples is a TikTok video by @tanner.leatherstein, where he breaks down and reviews one of the brand’s most popular styles.
What Should be Next for Coachtopia?
To address this, Coachtopia needs to develop a more robust brand-building strategy. It should focus on educating shoppers on their circular process, pricing, and product innovation, and on building mental and physical availability to create a deeper brand memory structure. Coachtopia can become the popular choice for Gen Z shoppers, but only if it makes strides to increase brand awareness among its target customers by distinguishing its brand identity from Coach’s, clearly communicating its quality and value, and making itself relevant to Gen Z shoppers.
Check out more of my Marketing Minute series by visiting my blog page.
REFERENCES
About Coachtopia. (n.d.). https://ca.coach.com/en/shop/coachtopia/about
Coachtopia | Coach®. Coach. (n.d.). https://ca.coach.com/en/shop/coachtopia
Donnell, C. M. (2026, January 9). The rise of the analogue bag: Fashion’s answer to Doomscrolling. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2026/jan/09/rise-of-analogue-bag-fashion-answer-to-doomscrolling
Estrada, S. (n.d.). Tapestry doubles down on gen Z and growth: New strategy targets $4 billion in shareholder returns, says CFO. Yahoo! Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tapestry-doubles-down-gen-z-114904309.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAE2B8QadbwoWBRC7TzWqliDSaFm-TgKplpHpORgd5vGRiVp3mpDSrkGSLU3wttrHeeR_Cpn4uzY6ECXlI9fk3uiTz0sxZc4dkhBtddA15Vj9TiyhaiNTmR6ge7k5MzoD7rh_fxCWSaV6zFbVJ4gr3uh5OZ-0eMkFaKcomoE24n_q
Fatima, M. (2026, March 14). Tapestry (TPR) FQ2 2026 revenue rises 14% to record $2.5B led by 25% coach growth. Yahoo! Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tapestry-tpr-fq2-2026-revenue-183030885.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAE2B8QadbwoWBRC7TzWqliDSaFm-TgKplpHpORgd5vGRiVp3mpDSrkGSLU3wttrHeeR_Cpn4uzY6ECXlI9fk3uiTz0sxZc4dkhBtddA15Vj9TiyhaiNTmR6ge7k5MzoD7rh_fxCWSaV6zFbVJ4gr3uh5OZ-0eMkFaKcomoE24n_q
Is Coachtopia Worth it? : R/coach. (n.d.-b). https://www.reddit.com/r/Coach/comments/1m1qg6n/is_coachtopia_worth_it/
Marshak, S. (2025, July 15). Tapestry boosts stake in recycled leather brand Gen Phoenix to nearly 10% | Reuters. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/land-use-biodiversity/tapestry-invest-15-million-recycled-leather-brand-gen-phoenix-2025-07-15/
Samson, S. (2026, January 15). Coachtopia and the Mirage of circular fashion – lifestyle.INQ. Lifestyle Inquirer. https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/561245/coachtopia-and-the-mirage-of-circular-fashion/
Shop the campaign: Coach®. Shop The Campaign | COACH®. (n.d.). https://www.coach.com/shop/explore-your-story
Tapestry. (2025, September 10). Introducing amplify: Our new company strategy: Tapestry posted on the topic. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tapestryinc_ourtapestry-amplify-investorday2025-activity-7371588289885020161-kjw-/
Unknown. (2022, September 9). Tapestry, inc.. introduces 2025 growth strategy and financial targets. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/TPR-N/pressreleases/10115696/tapestry-inc-introduces-2025-growth-strategy-and-financial-targets/
Unknown. (2026, February 7). Tapestry’s coach-led quarter powers raised guidance. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/TPR/pressreleases/82511/tapestrys-coach-led-quarter-powers-raised-guidance/
Yang, A. (2026, March 1). Reading is so trendy now that coach is making book charms. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coach-book-charms-rcna261043
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