Coach SS25 was optimistic, upbeat and young

“There are four secret service agents here.”

Or so went the rumour at Coach SS25, where federal heavies had, apparently, been deployed to protect model Ella Emhoff (daughter of second husband Doug, stepdaughter of vice-president Kamala Harris). ​“Two in uniform, two in plain clothes.”

Thankfully there were no (wait for it) plain clothes (that’s right) on the runway (thank you). This was Doncaster-born creative director Stuart Vevers giving it the big I <3 New York, celebrating a city that puts even London to shame with its bold sense of individual style.

As well as a star-studded appearance from Emhoff, Storm Reid and Charles Melton, the faces of the AW24 campaign, were sat front row.

Taking place on the city’s High Line, a elevated railway turned park in Manhattan, you could feel the traffic moving below as the first model – head shorn, sporty blazer thrown over a New York T‑shirt – walked out to a chugging soundtrack of overdriven guitars and the occasional honk of a taxi. Models that followed carried bags with stickers and charms (featuring plenty of Coach mascot, Rexy). T‑shirts were punkish-ly scribbled all over. Shoes were affixed with toy cars and cassette tapes. The effect was something personalised.

“For me, it’s the gang,” said Vevers. ​“This is a group of characters who are taking American classics and reinventing them for today, making them their own. That’s a big part of what I see and love about New York style.”

Vevers has spent over 10 years reinventing and, ultimately, disrupting American classics since his first (and the brand’s first) runway show in 2014. The only difference now is that Coach feels younger than it ever has; buoyed perhaps by the success of its viral Brooklyn bag, which debuted in February.

“I’m really fascinated by how the new generation are discovering American classics for the first time. Seeing those things with fresh eyes is, to me, really inspiring.”

Emhoff epitomised this well; someone who, for very obvious reasons, now navigates the upper echelons of American society, but does so with a kind of effortless cool (see her Insta posts from the DNC, where she wore US brands Ralph Lauren and Thom Browne, alongside newer upstarts such as Puppets and Puppets).

As the show closed on a baseball-capped model, oversized backpack slung over one shoulder, Vever’s two children, both four, leaped up into his arms. An even newer gen ready to enter the fashion world? ​“I don’t think so, thank goodness,” Vevers laughed backstage. But a fitting display of youthful optimism for a brand that has made that its motto.