Coachtopia launches docuseries exploring challenges of circular fashion

Coachtopia, the sub-brand launched by luxury label Coach in April 2023 focused on circular craft and collaborative creativity, has launched a new docuseries exploring the challenges and possibilities of circular fashion.

‘The Road to Circularity’ goes behind the scenes of Coachtopia to shed light on rarely documented aspects of the global fashion industry, taking “a frank look at the problems facing the fashion industry and the mindset shifts required to tackle them—to pioneer circular solutions for the future”.

The first episode, ‘Making with Waste’ is hosted by sustainable fashion advocate and Coachtopia community member Aditi Mayer, who visits KH Exports, a family-run leather manufacturing company in India, which has been working with Coach since 1987.

Mayer follows KH’s craft processes, from the careful sorting of waste in its “leather scrap yard” through to product prototyping, material design, and production as she explores the possibilities of making with waste as well as the personal stories of the community of designers, craftspeople and producers that are tackling some of these challenges.

Joon Silverstein, senior vice president of global marketing and sustainability at Coach and head of Coachtopia, said in a statement: “Since the founding of Coachtopia, we’ve been working closely with a wide range of inspiring young leaders through our Beta Community—and we have heard how frustrating fashion’s lack of transparency can be to this generation.

“That’s why we launched this docuseries The Road to Circularity—to go places where fashion doesn’t typically go, to explore the challenges facing our industry, and to show what it means to reconsider the usual fashion narratives and systems with circularity in mind. We’re excited to share our work-in-progress because we know that to tackle climate change, we can’t be afraid to take bold if imperfect steps—and to be honest about how far we have to go. It’s our way of using brand storytelling to shed light on bigger issues and to spark conversations that have an impact beyond Coachtopia.”

Mayer added: “Coachtopia began with the inquiry of whether we can minimise the use of virgin raw materials in fashion. It’s been fascinating learning about how that quest translates to every part of the supply chain: from sorting, designing, to quality control.

“It reveals how circularity isn’t just a shift in operations, it also demands that brands and storytellers alike champion a new culture: one that rewrites how we view ‘waste.’”

The docuseries has been made in partnership with production company Special Order and director Christina Burchard and will be available on Coachtopia’s social channels. The next episodes are set to follow later this year.