If you’ve been around Soho for the past few days, you’d be forgiven for thinking someone was setting up an adult playpark for the weekend. The reality though, is much more fashionable. Open today, Coach has been hard at work constructing its newest immersive installation in Soho Square, London.
Produced in collaboration with artist Cyril Lancelin, the walkable structure is inspired by Coach’s “playful approach to its authentic American heritage and the Pillow Tabby” – the plush it-bag of recent times. The experience invites guests to explore a giant, pillow-like structure crafted in soft pink. In keeping with Lancelin’s geometric style, the structure is finished, like the Pillow Tabby, with Coach’s C logo.
The installation is not just physical, though. Created to celebrate London’s reopening, the immersive experience will also come to life digitally through an AR treasure hunt. “Inspired by a desire for comfort, touch and affection, the Pillow Tabby was originally designed in response to the times we were living through,” said Coach’s creative director Stuart Vevers. “The experience we created with Cyril builds on this story, inviting clients into a soft, playful world inspired by our Pillow Tabby.”
Art is at the forefront of this creative endeavour, blending the two worlds into an immersive reality. Cyril Lancelin took motifs from the bag and worked it into his signature inflatable art, citing Coach as a great collaborator because it “shares (his) passion for innovation…the soft and embracing nature of the Pillow Tabby served as inspiration for the structure, its intertwining shapes a comforting escape from the outside world. It’s very exciting to marry fashion and public art in such an immersive way, encouraging a dialogue between the structure and its visitors.”
Open today to the public through April 10 from 8am to 8pm, the Coach Pillow Experience will also appear in Berlin and Dubai following London – so catch it in Soho Square whilst you can.
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