In New York, we don’t really drive cars but we do drive ourselves crazy. It’s part of the charm.
Everyone swears there is too much going on for anyone to be paying attention to you. It’s something I have to remind myself when I plop down to dinner with friends, carrying a vintage leather Miu Miu bag with my work laptop, a tote bag filled to the brim with random bits and bobs from my desk, and another miscellaneous brown bag carrying something I passed by on the street and impulsively decided I needed to buy even though I really didn’t. My first instinct is to apologize for my appearance. I call myself a bag lady and then everyone across from me gestures to a pile of belongings underneath the table. We are all the same.
We drive ourselves crazy by schlepping from one locale to another and picking up souvenirs whenever we step foot outside like it’s our job. It’s hard to just carry one dainty bag around if you’re a real New Yorker with a neverending to-do list. Stuart Vevers of Coach knows this.
(Image credit: Coach)
(Image credit: Coach)
Vevers is constantly referencing the city in his collections, and when I saw the Spring/Summer 2025 show last September, I was enamoured with the supersized bags cradled under the model’s elbows. I know he made that for New Yorkers like myself, who somehow owns more bags than I care to admit, but not one that’s truly big enough for my life.
The models carried extra large kiss lock coinpurses, some with stickers adorning the outside, others in the shape of teddy bears and hearts. The bags were of course, a little silly. Coinpurses are meant to be ladylike and fussy. But they also feel outdated in a era where it’s hard to go anywhere without your phone, half of which doesn’t fit inside a standard bag that shuts with a kisslock. Vever’s large version made the bag more practical than ever. It also gave the silhouette a childlike whimsy not often associated with more old-fashion purses. You wouldn’t find this in your grandma’s closet, but you would likely see it downtown on someone young and unburdened by the literal weight of the world—because they can put it in all in this bag.
My bag on the Coach Spring/Summer 2025 runway.
(Image credit: Coach)
During New York Fashion Week, I typically am quite burdended by what has been, constantly. Working as an editor while going to shows and living in Brooklyn is tough because I never have everything I need with me and I’m always lacking snacks but still forgetting to eat. I want to look cute and carry my favorite bags, but it’s just not realistic. I knew wearing this bag had the potential to change everything, and so I took out a pale pink one for a day to see what would happen.
I was initially not prepared for the actual size of the bag. It is truly BIG but somehow also extremely cute? I want to pinch its cheeks. Speaking of, I tried to see if my 18 pound pug would fit inside and she happily obliged. Not only did she fit but there was still room for a book or two and definitely my phone, keys and wallet. While carrying her around under my elbow would be the ultimate arm workout, it’s nice to know if she ever wanted to make a truly grand fashionable entrance somewhere, we have just the thing.
Trying to style the bag was surprisingly easy. I decided to lean into the ridiculousness of it all and mix bright colors and prints for a look that truly felt so right.
After deciding I couldn’t really take her to a day of shows (despite her persistence) I filled up the bag with the usual things like my wallet, keys, lip gloss, phone and the things I typically have no choice but to leave behind, like my laptop, my AirPod maxes, a couple notebooks, pens. I actually took a quick scan around the apartment in search of something else I could throw in there before I was done. It was an unfamiliar feeling. Typically I have to remove the contents of my bag and repack or do a sort of tetris like dance to see what gets to stay and what has to go. But now, with a bag that could fit 10x the things I expected, I wanted to do the most.
Thankfully the bag is also doing the most, visually. After deciding I maybe shouldn’t throw in a large water bottle for fun or a can of Poppi or two, I stepped outside. I typically love to walk around my neighborhood before immediately heading off to a show because it’s fun to see the response to some of the more out there pieces I decide to wear. And this one definitely received the nicest kind of feedback.
She looks skeptical, but she’s having a great time.
In the past I’ve worn bags in the shapes of animals and one that was quite actually just a high heel pump (the work of Balenciaga, of course). Those have really confused people. But this bag was different. I noticed people do doubletakes to try and identify the pink leather blob I was cradling…and instead of looking bemused, they just smiled. A lot of older women in particular went out of the way to say they really appreciated a bag associated with their youth modernized for today’s youth. Little girls looked up at the bag with googly eyes, as if it reminded them of something they drew or dreamed up. One pointed at it and suggested I must be a princess and that the bag was magic (I mean, who am I to disagree with her?).
The Coach bag taking her rightful seat at the Fall/Winter 2025 runway show, sat next to another supersized kisslock bag owned by fellow WWW editor Anna LaPlaca.
The inside of my bag on the way to some late night shows. I was able to ditch my laptop but threw in some gloves, an agenda, a pair of glasses, and multiple snacks I acquired on the ferry. The best thing about the bag is not even having to think twice if everything will fit. I just know it will.
When I went to the coffee shop to pick up something for my boyfriend and myself, the barista joked that I didn’t need a cup holder because I could just put it all in my bag. On the way back home I passed by the grocery store to grab a couple things for dinner, and didn’t have to buy a bag or fret about leaving behind my tote. It all just went straight into the large kisslock coinpurse. I opted to take a ferry to the Diotima presentation because I knew I’d be able to gather snacks at its snack counter to keep in my bag for the long night of events ahead.
The reaction the bag received at fashion week shows was to be expected. Lots of editors fawned over it, others pointing out we were twinning becaus they had the bag as well. But what mattered most to me was how this kind of funny high-fashion item held up IRL. Unlike other runway pieces, it didn’t need a reality check. If anything, it was built for the specific reality of a New Yorker with too much too carry and not enough space to put it all.
And while the bag still isn’t available to shop yet, all Coach bags, supersized or not (although the shoulder bag 39 is definitely another big option), are made for really living in. Shop the very best, below.
COACH®
Brooklyn Shoulder Bag 28
COACH®
Soft Empire Carryall Bag 40
COACH®
Lana Shoulder Bag
