Coach x Keith Haring

Coach is one of the most representative brands from New York, and they always have something symbolic of the city embraced in the brand and their collections.

The Windows are a great example of New York’’s aesthetic presence in the brand, with displays of yellow taxis, the Empire State building, hotdogs, pretzels or the NYC Subway. This last October of 2016 was such a success that now the display is exhibited in the Windows Wear Museum at Berkeley College.

Famed for his impressive street artwork across New York that is characterized with bold lines, bright colors, and active figures that carry strong messages of life and unity; as well as his fellowship with emergent artists of the 80’s such as Madonna, Grace Jones, Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring has been an important and a recognized artist of the city since his death in 1990.

 

Keith Haring and Madonna, 1985 Picture by: josephcarinicarpets.com

Keith Haring in front of a subway drawing, 1983 Picture by: josephcarinicarpets.com

His lasting presence is found around the world, and now Coach has a new collection that was announced in December of last year titled Love by Keith Haring, following passed collaborations like Pac Man, Baseman, Disney and Selena Gomez.

 

Picture by: @Coach

Picture by: @Coach

One of his early works in 1982 included two androgynous figures holding a radiant heart- love. At this point critics interpreted the work as an outrageous movement in support of homosexual love and a radical cultural statement. Now, Coach is incorporating the iconic Radiant heart in their pieces, not just as prints, but also embroiders, metallic pins and key chains, in addition to other elements from the artist.

Picture by: @Coach

While he was alive, Haring collaborated with fashion designers Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren on their A/W 1983/84 Witches collection. Certainly Coach is not the first or the last brand that uses their graphics in their collections, as Uniqlo has sold millions of printed T-shirts. Similarly, Madonna incorporated a sequence of videos of Haring on her ‘Sticky and Sweet Tour’ in 2008 with her song: Get into The Groove.

 

Let’s check out the windows for March 2018 in NYC with this campaign.