After 16 successful years at Coach, Creative Director, Reed Krakoff has announced that he will be leaving the company next year to go solo. His contract with Coach will expire in June 2014, and he does not plan to renew it. At age 49, he has had an incredible career at coach, helping the brand expand and develop overtime. He had a close relationship with the company’s chief executive and together they transformed Coach into a chic brand and a label that women all across the world are drooling over.
In 2010, Krakoff started his own brand that is targeted towards luxury shoppers. He has a flagship on Madison Avenue and he has also opened Reed Krakoff stores in Las Vegas and New Jersey. You can also find his label at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bon Marche and Colette in Paris, and on Net-a-Porter. His label manager is Valerie Hermann, a Paris executive who has managed notable labels such as Dior and Saint Laurent.
Krakoff stated that his incentive behind leaving Coach was purely that he wanted to focus on expanding his own brand. He added that it takes a considerable amount of time to build a brand, so he wants to dedicate his time to that right now. With that being said, Coach owns the Reed Krakoff label, but Krakoff did not share information on whether or not he would try to buy the Coach brand.