Coach Creative Director Stuart Vevers is hanging out looking cool, calm, collected. He's visited Shanghai many times in the lead up to this show and has collaborated with local artists on the collection. This is the first time Coach has shown in Shanghai so the excitement levels backstage and front of house are right up there.
We enter the show space - it's dark and mysterious. There are vintage Mustang replicas on the runway and neon signs in the background - transporting us all back in time to New York's Times Square in the ‘70s.
Showtime. The show starts and a few familiar faces start popping up - models (and friends of Coach) Dilone, Adesuwa and Lexi Boiling have travelled to Shanghai from NYC. Many of the models are also locals, including the model who opened the show - and it was his first time walking a runway!
It’s a feast for the eyes. My standout pieces (if I HAVE to narrow it down) are the metallic dress from look 8 (obsessed!!!), the cute-as-they-come dress from look 9, everything about look 18, the leather jacket from look 19 and the top in look 22.
Now let's move on to the fun part - THE ACCESSORIES! Platforms are back in a big way, and you could take your pick from every style, shape and form from every look on the runway but, personally, I'll be donning the metallic pink sandals from look 46 as soon as I can get my hands on them. The Kisslock bag with artwork by @yetiout was my favourite bag, and the Riley with graffiti artwork by @undesign comes a close second.
Following the finale, a huge (and I mean HUGE) disco ball descends from above, and the after party setting lights up (like, literally - there were so many neon lights, I felt like I was on a movie set).
There are different bars serving up cocktails (the spiced rum, apple juice and ginger was my pick), hotdogs, mini burgers, popcorn, pretzels, and separate bars set up around the room for VIPs.
With three different DJ sets throughout the night, you can’t help but get into it! Impromptu dancers broke out an old-school dance-off circle at one point. Whether or not this was actually impromptu is still TBC but it was awesome.
AND THEN… towards the end of the night, we were lucky enough to meet Stuart. He was so sweet and obliging when it came to getting a photo. NIGHT. MADE.
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