The following is a recent and famous story. Year 2013: the French giant PPR, which owns many brands among which is Gucci, decides to change its name in ‘Kering’, because they say in Paris, “the ker root of the word means ‘home’ in Breton, while in English Kering sounds like ‘care’, ‘caring’. We believe that is more suited and coherent with who we are”. Four years later, it would almost seem, another is touched by the “French syndrome”, the Coach brand, which makes the same decision, and mentions similar motivations for the choice. Starting on October 31st, the US-based brand, which has over 70 years of experience in leather goods and has recently acquired the brand Stuart Weitzman (2015) and Kate Spade (few months ago), will rename itself ‘Tapestry’. According to Victor Luis (Ceo), “the name identifies a corporate identity able to represent and express the values of: creativity, craftsmanship, authenticity and inclusivity that the brands of the Coach ‘community’ stand for. After the acquisitions of Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman – says Luis – the company has evolved from a one-brand specialty retailer to a true fashion group, with desirable brands and full of emotions”. A choice to make things clearer, and give a name to the group owner of Coach, Spade and Weitzman that cannot be misunderstood. This choice caused irony outburst (obviously) on social media outlets, mostly due to the fact that Tapestry is the name of one of the most successful and sold disk of the 70s American music: carol King was the singer, which came out in 1971, and included the famous song You’ve got a friend in me: it sold over 35 million copies. “But we discovered that most millennials have never listened to it”, comments Luis to the NewYork Times, as to clarify any confusion there may be regarding the name. The public’s rejection for the name is unanimous: the name simply sounds ‘old’, according to testimonies collected by CNBC. Even professional in the retail field are perplexed: Andrea Wesserman, ex-manager of Nordstrom and Hudson’s Bay expresses his confusion on Twitter: “a bizarre choice. I am dying to know the logic behind it”. Victor Luis himself is attempting to stop the fire. In an interview with Reuters the Ceo explains how a good portion of the negative reaction has to do with a misunderstanding at the core: “we are not changing the name of the Coach brand, but simply that of the group that includes the latter with the Weitzman and Spade brand”.
