Coach’s Comeback: A Former Employee on Nostalgia Done Right
If you’d told me a decade ago that Coach — the brand I called home for seven years, would be the comeback story of 2025, I wouldn’t have been surprised. Not just because I’m a little biased (and I am, proudly), but because Coach has always been more than just handbags. It’s always been about a feeling. And that feeling is exactly what’s making it relevant again today. It’s not just me saying this, brands and marketers everywhere are paying attention. At this year’s Cannes Lions festival, leaders across industries talked about how powerful nostalgia has become as a strategy. Axios reported on how brands are leaning into collective memories, not just for sentimentality, but because it works when backed by real data and consumer insights. Coach is living proof of that trend in action.
Now, as a marketer, strategist, and researcher myself, I see even more clearly how intentional this kind of comeback really is. It’s one thing to have heritage, it’s another to know how to watch the culture, and bring it all together in a way that feels fresh instead of stuck in the past. I still remember the extensive training we went through as sales associates and managers. We didn’t just learn how to sell a handbag, we learned how to tell its story. Every season, every silhouette, every piece of hardware had a reason for being there. We studied the brand’s New York roots, the craftsmanship details, the signature glove-tanned leather, the classic canvas, and the iconic turnlock that once set Coach apart. This is what connected each customer to something bigger than the product in their hand.
Coach’s resurgence didn’t happen by accident. According to CNBC’s recent piece, the brand has doubled down on what made it iconic in the first place: signature silhouettes, classic logos, and that unmistakable early-2000s attitude. It’s smart timing. When I worked at Coach, I saw firsthand how the right handbag could be a whole moment for someone. I still remember new launches, Poppy, Legacy, Madison and the rush when we’d sell out. Back then, Coach was part of your coming-of-age story. Today, that feeling is back, only now it’s layered with a new kind of nostalgia. Gen Z buyers weren’t even around for some of these originals, but that doesn’t matter. In fact, it makes the story more interesting. There’s a certain magic in buying into an era you didn’t live through, a kind of pseudo-nostalgia that’s become one of the strongest emotional hooks in modern retail.
Coach’s team isn’t just rummaging through archives for fun. They’re using data to figure out what’s worth bringing back. Searches spike for a discontinued style on resale sites? That handbag might just make a comeback. TikTok starts buzzing about vintage Coach? They’re listening. What I love most is that it’s not only about product, it’s about the story around it. A legacy silhouette doesn’t get dropped back into the world unchanged. It comes with an updated twist, a limited run, maybe a celebrity or creator who brings fresh energy to it. That blend of old and new keeps it authentic instead of feeling stale or forced. Brands talk about heritage all the time. But heritage only matters if it still makes people feel something today. Coach is proving that you can honor where you came from and still adapt to what your customer wants now.
This is a great reminder for any brand sitting on a story or a signature product. Nostalgia only works when you do it with intention. Here’s what the some brands are getting right:
Know your archives inside and out. You can’t revive what you don’t understand.
Listen to real data. Resale trends, social chatter, search spikes, the clues are there if you’re willing to look.
Drop carefully. Limited runs or reissues build buzz and keep the story special.
Connect with culture. Pair old-school icons with modern moments and the people who can tell that story in a fresh way.
Measure and evolve. Nostalgia shouldn’t freeze you in time, it should give you a bridge to what’s next.
As someone who’s been on the sales floor and now researches what makes brands work, I can’t wait to see what they do next!
Dania Khalife
