Following the announcement that its long-standing creative director, Reed Krakoff, will soon depart Coach, the luxury leather brand is on the hunt for a new name to lead its design, and they’re looking to lure one of fashion’s biggest players into the position. 

Among the names mooted for the job are, according to WWD, none other than Marc Jacobs (whose appointment of Luella Bartley and Katie Hillier at Marc by Marc Jacobs will leave him with more time on his hands…), Chloé’s creative director Clare Waight Keller, Nicolas Ghesquière, and following the shock announcement of her departure from Mulberry today, Emma Hill. 

With its classic, luxurious aesthetic, much-loved by New York’s Upper East Side, and repped by super-groomed Gwyneth Paltrow, Coach offers a canvas on which these distinct designers could each make their mark (or Marc, as the case may be). So we wonder, what would it mean for the brand should they manage to snare one of these top names:

Marc Jacobs: Marc by Marc Jacobs’ Classic Q line of bags, including the Natasha and the Hobo are commercial gold and his ability to expertly balance wild prints, such as those by Stephen Sprouse with Louis Vuitton’s heritage means he would be well placed to shake things up a Coach without ruffling any feathers. But does he already have enough on his plate with his eponymous label and Louis?

Clare Waight Keller: before taking her current position of creative director at Chloé, Keller spent time at classic knitwear label Pringle, which gives her good credentials for pleasing the old guard of Coach fans. And it goes without saying that the pretty, feminine signature she upholds at Chloé would be a good fit the brand, but is her style different enough from what Coach already do to make as big a splash as they seem to want?

Emma Hill: the woman who sent Mulberry’s profits stratospheric is now a free agent, and we’d bet our bottom dollar that Coach would kill to get her on board to make bags as iconic as the Alexa for them. 

Nicolas Ghesquière: having handed the reins at Balenciaga to young wunderkind Alexander Wang, Nicolas would be well placed to take on a new role revamping Coach’s classic styles. Imagine it now – beautiful leather and ladylike shapes thrown into a spin with cool colours and Nic’s directional design details. We’d buy it.