Coach to partner with Studio Sofield for new store concept

Hong Kong -- Coach announced that it has retained Studio Sofield, led by designer and president William Sofield, as creative advisor in the development of the company's next generation retail concept.



The new concept will be unveiled in fall 2014, with the company's 4,000-sq.-ft. flagship in Beverly Hills, Calif., followed by the Coach store at the Time Warner Center in New York City (5,335 sq. ft.).



Additionally, the company will open a new location in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. The concept will be implemented by Coach in subsequent locations in 2015, to be announced at a later date.



"William and I share a genuine desire to create something different — different for Coach and unique in luxury. He has created some of my favorite stores," said Stuart Vevers, executive creative director, Coach. "As we continue on the path of transformation, I want our new store environment to organically trigger a significant change in the perception of our brand. A space that feels authentic to Coach, confident, modern and inviting, with honest construction and rich, warm materials."



Sofield recently completed Harry Winston's flagship boutique in Shanghai, and London flagship store designs for Tom Ford and Belstaff. Studio Sofield's collaboration with Coach represents the first of the firm's new initiatives in retail conceptualization.



"Coach's legacy finds dignity in the honest simplicity of form," said Sofield. "It's grown alongside the city into an emblem of the sophisticated, yet playful refinement that embodies an authentic and timeless New York style. The concept that Stuart and I have devised instills notions of raw materiality and hand craftsmanship that converse [juxtaposed] with the balance and expression of structure. It will have an elegant thoughtfulness that is classic, but buoyant with a lightness of spirit."