In three months, Coach racked up $1.7 Billion in sales Fashion crisis? What fashion crisis?

In the past, nss magazine had suggested that the fashion industry's sales problem was not a customer base that had stopped spending, but one that had chosen to spend elsewhere. Now we know what "elsewhere" means: Coach. According to the financial statement for the third quarter of 2026, Coach saw its sales rise 16% to $1.7 billion. A remarkable figure, given that it concerns a single quarter that was also difficult for larger players. So remarkable, in fact, that it is single-handedly driving the growth of parent company Tapestry Inc., which, over the same period, saw net income rise 30.9% to $360 million, with revenues growing 12% to $1.9 billion, against the $1.85 billion that had been forecast. How did they do it? The answer is accessible luxury.

It costs less, so I buy it

The most remarkable figure is that during the quarter, not only did Tapestry Inc. divest Stuart Weitzman, giving up a portion of its business, but also that the group's other brand, Kate Spade, saw sales fall 10%, bringing "only" $233 million into the group's coffers. This effectively means that Coach's numbers are a locomotive capable of pulling even slow or non-functioning carriages. The reason for this success lies in a well-executed commercial strategy, but also in the fact that Coach is one of the few brands with a strong focus on leather goods that younger segments of the customer base can actually afford. In North America, its core market, the brand's sales grew 7%, while internationally the increase reached 30%.

Joanne Crevoiserat, CEO of Tapestry Inc., told WWD that the group is succeeding in attracting new consumers and bringing them into both the brand and the broader category of accessible luxury products. The CEO also said her ambition was to be the «first luxury bag purchase» for Gen Z. «Coach at its inception brought more customers into the category with high-quality leather goods, with high emotional resonance with the consumer», she explained, «and really grew the category. At the same time, it grew share. And we are continuing to do that».

Underpinning these numbers is the growth strategy known as Amplify, a three-year plan unveiled last year and built around four pillars: building emotional connections with consumers, driving product innovation, creating engaging shopping experiences, and developing internal human capital. It is clearly working: in the last quarter the group acquired 2.6 million new customers, 35% of whom were Gen Z, while demand from the existing customer base continued to rise. And the surprising thing is that average prices for Coach bags have increased by between 10 and 15%.

The recipe behind these results, the CEO said, is maintaining a compelling value-for-money proposition, understanding consumer needs, and translating those needs into the brand's commercial and communications offering. Coach closed last year with $6.9 billion in revenue and, on the back of these results, Tapestry has raised its full-year guidance to growth of 6–7%, to between $8.5 and $8.6 billion. That is considerably less than the 17% growth recorded last year (net of currency effects and the Stuart Weitzman divestiture), but still very significant because it comes on top of an already very high base. And another surprising fact is that the brand's expansion into markets outside the United States is, in practical terms, only just beginning.