Meet the TikToker Giving New Life to Vintage Coach Bags

It’s 11:32 PM, and I’ve been scrolling through TikTok for hours. It’s not unusual for me to go down a rabbit hole on the app, but this time, I’m not caught up in a Taylor Swift album theory or watching The Secret Life of Pets in 24 parts. Rather, I’m watching a well mannered man search for and restore vintage Coach bags.

 His name is Will Tyler, and he joined the platform about a year and a half ago when he was cleaning a bag for a friend and decided to document it. He quickly found a community of people who share a fondness for all things Coach — or perhaps just all things gentle and soothing. In the clips, some of which have amassed millions of views, he’ll demonstrate how to clean, moisturize, and do basic repairs on archival Coach bags, which are made with a specific type of leather (the same type used in baseball gloves). They’re ASMR for the accessories-obsessed.

“Caring for and maintaining leather can be quite a therapeutic process,” Tyler tells InStyle. “I've spoken to a lot of people who have taken on this hobby, and they're also surprised to learn that it's relaxing.” Watching is, at least, though that may be due to Tyler’s meditative voice. 

“I never realized that I had, not only a calming voice, but a calming aura about me,” Tyler says. “I'm a Taurus, so naturally we're kind of chill people.” Like, well, everyone, he says he was insecure about the sound of his own voice at first. “I used the text-to-speech option in my first couple of videos, and then slowly I started doing voiceovers, and I realized people were leaving comments how they enjoyed my voice.”

It helps that Tyler was in his element. His relationship to Coach runs deep: He has worked as an in-store visual merchandising manager for the brand in his hometown of Seattle since 2007. “I didn't have an appreciation for the classics as much as I [do now],” he says. “It was a few years after, that I started my journey of collecting vintage pieces.” 

Cut to 2023: Between his passion for Coach products and decades-long experience actually working for the brand, his knowledge is encyclopedic. He shows me a deep green Cashin Carry Tote, the first bag from women’s designer Bonnie Cashin: “Coach started in the ‘40s as a men's brand, and in the early ‘60s they started rolling out women's product. This was one of the first women's bags that they ever rolled out as a company,” he says. Officially, he doesn’t play favorites, but he admits that “Just the history in that alone would probably make this a favorite of mine in my collection.”

Tyler sources the bags from all over, and brings followers along on journeys to his local Goodwill or Value Village, as well as to vintage shops and flea markets. The question isn’t whether or not he’ll find a Coach bag (he will), but whether he’ll find one worthy of his collection. 

The pieces that do make the cut may not be what you’d expect. “I like to look for pieces that I think otherwise would've been forgotten about — pieces that are not in good condition, they're torn, they're stained, they're dirty,” Tyler says, reaching for an oxblood leather bag with visible blots. “I find stuff like [this bag] to be beautiful; it tells a story.” 

More specifically, Tyler says he is drawn to pieces that reflect himself as well as Coach’s history, like the Cashin Carry Tote. His latest find? A yellow fanny pack from the brand’s 1996 Olympics collaboration (above), which he treated himself to for his birthday. 

Some Coach bags, collectors might argue, are priceless. But of course, they come with a real-life price tag. “It depends on condition, silhouette, color, and sometimes even the time of manufacture for that piece,” Tyler explains. “Pieces from the ‘80s or ‘70s will go for more, especially if they’re in better condition.” In other words, while the cost won’t reach vintage Chanel levels, sticker shock can still happen. “There are some silhouettes that you can find for $200 to $300, and there are some silhouettes that are $600 to $1000.” 

As for what Tyler does with his treasures — that depends. Some decorate his pristine — and yes, Coach-themed — office. Others are educational. “Aside from cleaning and restoring them, I kind of use them as teaching tools and as inspiration for others,” he says. “I'm sharing my hobby partially in hopes that it could inspire someone else. I don't know exactly for what, but they're just pieces I like to collect. To me, it's like art.”

Caring for Your Coach

To get you started, he says you only need a few basic things: “Saddle soap, a horse hair brush, and a leather conditioner, those are three basic things that could kick start you in this process.”

Shop Now: Fiebling's Saddle Soap, $7, amazon.com

Shop Now: Horse hair brush, $9, amazon.com

Shop Now: Leather CPR, $24, amazon.com